Testing 12 Mineral Sunscreens for Face! Best & Worst 2020
In honor of Skin Cancer Awareness month, it’s time for my annual mineral sunscreen testing video!
This is my 6th annual Mineral sunscreen testing video and I tried another 12 sunscreens, and I’ve tested almost 100 over 6 years. I’m starting to forget which I’ve tested before so I made a list of all of them ranked from best to worst here.
I’m looking for an all-mineral sunscreen that doesn’t leave a white cast, doesn’t feel greasy, and isn’t too shiny, so it can be worn on its own on no-makeup days and also doesn’t affect the wear or look of my makeup.
I use only 100% mineral sunscreens because my skin is sensitive to chemical sunscreen ingredients and they tend to sting my skin, so the only sunscreen ingredients in most of these products are Titanium Dioxide & Zinc Oxide (except for 2 that I got the wrong one by mistake but tried them anyway).
I’ll be applying ¼ teaspoon of each sunscreen to test it for my face & neck, it’ll look like a ton of sunscreen but that’s how much you need to apply to get the spf on the label, applying less cuts the spf down substantially. So I could probably get all of these sunscreens to look better if I put on far less, but the point is to protect my skin by getting the spf on the label.
Here are the 12 contestants vying for the chance to be my new favorite in order from worst to best.
This Year’s Worst:
Supergoop Play 100% Mineral Lotion Sunscreen SPF 50 ~ $32 for 3.4 oz.
2% Titanium Dioxide, 24% Zinc Oxide, Non-nano, reef safe, water resistant to 80 minutes, vegan.
A thick white cream that goes on purplish and is difficult to rub in. It feels really greasy, heavy & thick. It’s not good around hair and left a strong white cast that’s patchy and very shiny but is fragrance free. After 20 minutes of dry down it looks exactly the same and feels so oily & wet, it’s gross & I really hate it. Completely unwearable.
Naturally Serious Mineral Sun Defense Moisturizer Sunscreen SPF 30 ~ $34 for 2 oz.
4% Titanium Dioxide, 25% Zinc Oxide, Not water resistant.
A lightly tinted whipped lotion with a really strong lemon/citronella scent. It rubs in fairly quickly but feels super greasy and has a really shiny finish. It’s good around hair. After 20 minutes it still feels sticky & greasy, is still really shiny, and my face still smells like lemon pledge, and still has a slight pale cast. I can’t stand the heavy feel or the smell so I washed my face. Not wearable.
Dr Dennis Gross Instant Radiance Sun Defense SPF 40 ~ $42 for 1.7 oz.
4.9% Titanium Dioxide, 4.42% Zinc Oxide, Not water resistant, cruelty free & vegan
This is a thick tinted cream that takes a bit of work to rub in. The tint is a medium tan color but it goes on looking lighter. It has a strong smell, not a fragrance, just the smell of what it’s made of. It feels thick heavy & greasy on the skin. It doesn’t blend well at all, it’s streaky, patchy, and settled into my pores. It’s got a really shiny finish and is not good around hair. After 20 minutes of drying time the tint lightens more giving a pale cast to the skin. It still feels thick, sticky & greasy. It looks awful, streaky, patchy, & settled into wrinkles & pores! Completely unwearable on its own. I put makeup on over it and all the badness could be seen through the makeup. A fail all around.
Trader Joe’s Zinc Oxide Sunscreen Lotion SPF 40 ~$17.99 for 5 oz.
20.5% Zinc Oxide, 40 min. water resistant, Non-nano, vegan.
This is a heavy, thick white cream that goes on like diaper paste. It’s difficult to rub in taking extra time to get it on there. It leaves a slight white cast and isn’t good around hair. It feels thick and greasy. It’s fragrance free. After 20 minutes it still has the white cast and looks uneven and very shiny and feels very greasy. Not wearable on its own. Makeup doesn’t really stick to it well and it goes on looking paler than normal. The white cast shows through and it causes major settling into wrinkles right away. Not wearable on its own or under makeup.
Suntegrity Impeccable Skin Moisturizing Face Sunscreen SPF 30 ~ $55 for 2 oz.
15% Zinc Oxide, not water resistant, blue light protection, cruelty free.
A thicker tinted cream sunscreen with no fragrance. It comes in 6 shades, I’m using Sand. It takes a little more work to rub this in, it blends well overall but was a little streaky on my forehead but it blends well around hair. The tint hides any white cast and goes well with my skintone. It feels really really greasy and thick and has a very shiny finish. After 20 minutes it still feels greasy & sticky, I don’t like how it feels at all. And it’s too shiny for me to wear it on its own. With makeup it still feels really thick & greasy and makes the makeup look thick and cakey and waxy because of the shine. The sunscreen made the foundation crease and slide around within 4 hours and even with a boatload of powder it looked SO Shiny!! Shortens wear of makeup. Not wearable on its own & not good under makeup.
Good Alone but not great Under Makeup:
SuperGoop Zinc Screen SPF 40$42 for 1.7 oz.
https://bit.ly/3cdvEUx (Nordstrom), https://bit.ly/2PySrDs (Sephora)
13% Zinc Oxide, Not water resistant, reef safe, vegan.
This one is a lightly peach tinted runny lotion that glides over the skin and rubs in really easily. It’s fragrance free and good around hair. It feels lightweight, but also pretty oily on the hands and face with a shiny finish but no white cast. After 20 minutes it still feels oily and damp but the shine has decreased a bit. If you don’t mind the feel & like a shiny finish it could be wearable in its own. Under makeup the shine comes through which accentuates pores and texture. Makeup doesn’t sit well over it & looks broken up on the surface with less coverage than normal. It causes major settling in wrinkles within 5 minutes and shortens the wear time of makeup by a couple hours. Ok on its own, bad under makeup.
Thrive Daily Defense Sunscreen Balm SPF 30 ~ $20.95 for 2 oz.
20% Zinc Oxide, Not water resistant, Non-nano, reef safe.
This is a slightly greyish lotion with a strong lemon scent that takes a bit of work to rub in. It doesn’t glide over skin but once rubbed in it looks fairly sheer with no problems around hair and a soft luminous finish. After 20 minutes it looks good but also like my skin is red and irritated from the botanicals. It does dry back and feel set. It would be wearable on its own. Makeup doesn’t sit right on top of this sunscreen, it looks mottled and broken up and looks heavier than normal. Makeup looked shinier and oilier at 4 hours than it usually does and more worn off at 8 hours. Wearable on its own but just ok under makeup.
DRMTLGY Broad Spectrum 45 ~ $19.95 for 2 oz.
12% Zinc Oxide, 7.5% Octinoxate
It’s a white lotion that goes on purplish white and leaves a slight cast on the skin. It feels really greasy going on and has a luminous finish. After 20 minutes is dries a bit but still feels a little tacky & greasy but the white cast is diminished and it’s not overly shiny so it is wearable on its own. The sunscreen doesn’t ever dry down completely so makeup doesn’t dry and set either. Foundation goes on sheerer than normal and the white cast and luminosity come through the foundation. The good news is the sunscreen doesn’t make foundation settle into wrinkles but other than that it just doesn’t look or feel great and shortens wear time of makeup.
Wearable on its own but not great under makeup.
Purito Centella Green Level Unscented Sun SPF50 PA ~ 18.90 for 2 oz. https://amzn.to/35GKiBi (Amazon), https://bit.ly/3cdOACT (YesStyle)
Not mineral, uses European filters we don’t have in the US. Uvinul A Plus & Uvinul T 150
This comes out of the tube a slightly green lotion but goes on clear. It’s very easy to rub in, has no fragrance, is good around hair, but has a slightly greasy feel. After 20 minutes of dry down it feels a little tacky but it’s not bad. It’s clear with only a slight luminosity but seems to be irritating the skin around my eyes which is now red and blotchy looking but feels fine. Makeup goes on over it just ok… I tried it with 3 different foundations and each one went on the same. They were all a little patchy and just didn’t sit well on top of this sunscreen. It didn’t cause any settling into wrinkles or pores and looked nice from a distance but not up close. It shortened the wear of makeup by a few hours. Very wearable on its own, but not great under makeup.
Not Good on its own but Good Under Makeup
Clinique Pep Start Daily UV Protector Tinted SPF 50 ~ $19.50 for 1 oz.
6.3% Titanium Dioxide, 4% Zinc Oxide, not water resistant, unscented
A thin lotion texture with a soft peachy tint. It rubs in easily and quickly leaving a slight white cast but is really greasy feeling and really shiny. Too shiny for me to wear it on its own. Good around hair. After 20 minutes of dry down it still feels super greasy, has a slight white cast and is ridiculously shiny. But it looks great under makeup, looks natural and skin like and the shine doesn’t come through. It does cause a little settling into wrinkles though. It didn’t shorten wear time of makeup & still looked good at the end of the day. Not wearable on its own unless you like shine, but good under makeup.
Good on its own & Good Under Makeup
StriVectin Advanced SPF Full Screen SPF 30 $39 for 1.5 oz.
https://bit.ly/2L8o5m6 (Nordstrom), https://bit.ly/35IsJ3H (Ulta)
16% Zinc Oxide, Not water resistant, non-nano, reef safe, pollution & blue light defense.
A lightly tinted thin lotion, this glides over the skin and is very easy and quick to rub in. It has a light lemony fragrance that dissipates quickly. There’s no white cast and it goes on well around hair. It feels lightweight and not greasy (my hands don’t even feel greasy), and has a soft luminosity… I really like it! After 20 minutes it feels dry and set and looks great! Very Wearable on its own! With makeup it looks really good! It doesn’t affect the application or the look of the makeup to start but sadly it did make makeup settle into wrinkles more than usual after 4 hours. It shortened the wear time of the makeup by a couple hours and it felt a tiny bit dry by the end of the day. VERY wearable on its own and pretty good under makeup.
This year’s winner especially for people with dry skin:
CeraVe Hydrating Sunscreen Sheer Tint SPF 30 ~ $13.97 for 1.7 oz.
5.5% Titanium Dioxide, 10% Zinc Oxide, Not water resistant
A tinted lotion with a whipped texture. Easy to apply, rubs in quickly and easily leaving no white cast and no problems around hair. The tint doesn’t show as a tint but really hides the white cast well. It feels greasy on the face and hands but dries a bit over 20 minutes so it doesn’t feel heavy, but it never quite sets either. Has a nice luminous finish. Contains the usual CeraVe hydrating ingredients. Liquid makeup goes on well over it and it doesn’t cause any settling into wrinkles or pores but it did shorten the wear time by 3-4 hours. It looks great under powder foundation since the luminosity and wetness help powder to look less dry and more natural. Very wearable in its own, pretty good under makeup
Necklace: https://bit.ly/36l0YNE, https://bit.ly/2MTyhSx
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