Life Fright

Looking for mineral sunscreen recommendations suitable for sensitive, acne-prone skin? Look no further! I have tried out a fair few and aggregated them into this post for easy comparison 🙂

For reference, I consider my skin tone to be light-medium neutral with an olive cast. I have combination, sensitive, reactive, acne-prone skin.

From my many years of searching for and trying out different mineral sunscreens, I have always purchased mineral sunscreens due to my research that this type of sunscreen is most suitable for sensitive skin and the 2 active ingredients of mineral sunscreen zinc oxide and titanium oxide are FDA approved. Something I have always wondered about is why sunscreens have varying percentages of the active ingredient but all are either SPF 30, SPF 50, etc. From what I understand, it boils down to a difference in the formulation.

All the sunscreens listed below are fragrance free. Full disclaimer some of these sunscreens I have tried many years ago and no longer repurchase because I have gone back to only purchasing my favorite: Paula’s choice. I recently picked up the Tower 28 sunscreen and I’ll update this post with my thoughts when I try it out! Please do your own research along with reading my reviews! I attempted to list out all the points I find important when looking at potential sunscreen options. Leave a comment below about what you look for in sunscreen and what your favorite sunscreen is!

Biossance Squalane + Zinc Sheer Mineral Sunscreen

• SPF 30
• 17.68% non-nano zinc oxide
• Not tinted (white colored lotion)
• Blends out easily, but leaves a shiny sheen
• Not water resistant
• 1.7oz is $32
• Squeeze tube packaging
• Repurchased? No
• Finished 2 tubes

Mychelle Sun Shield Liquid SPF 30

• SPF 30
• 17.68% non-nano zinc oxide
• Comes in tinted and not tinted (white colored lotion) versions
  • I recommend the tinted version. The not tinted one leaves a white cast and does not blend in as seamlessly!
• Blends out easily, but leaves a shiny sheen
• Not water resistant
• 1.7oz is $32
• Squeeze tube packaging
• Repurchased? No
• Finished 2 tubes

Amavara Tinted Lotion

• SPF 50
• 22.5% non-nano zinc oxide
• Comes in tinted and non-tinted formulations (thick paste)
• Only tried the tinted version. I tried their old formulation that came in airtight packaging which was a very good shade match for my light-medium olive skin tone. Their new formulation a few years back comes in a plain squeeze tube and is lighter in color.
• Satin-matte finish
• Application takes time to spread over the face
• Water resistant (80 minutes)
• 1.65oz is $19.99
• Squeeze tube packaging
• Repurchased? Yes
• Finished 3 tubes

Two Peas Organics

• SPF 50
• 25% Zinc Oxide
• Not tinted (white, thick paste similar to the Amavara one)
• White cast but rubbing it in helps to make it vanish
• Application takes time to spread over the face
• Shiny finish
• minimal ingredients list
• waterproof (40 minutes)
• 3oz for $15.99
• Squeeze tube packaging
• Repurchased? No
• Finished 1 tube

MDSolarSciences Mineral KidCrème SPF 50

• SPF 50
• 2% titanium dioxide, 17% zinc oxide
• Not tinted (white silky lotion)
• No white cast, blends out completely with little effort
• Matte finish
• Can feel the silicone on the face and hair will stick to the skin
• Feels a bit heavy on the skin
• waterproof (80 minutes)
• I bought the Kid’s version instead of non-tinted Mineral Crème SPF 50 since it looked pretty comparable ingredients wise and it was cheaper
• 3.4oz for $43 (Mineral Crème SPF 50) compared to 3.4oz for $39 (Mineral KidCrème SPF 50)
• Squeeze tube packaging
• Repurchased? Yes
• Finished 2 tubes

MDSolarSciences Mineral Tinted Crème SPF 30

• SPF 30
• 2% titanium dioxide, 17% zinc oxide
• tinted (same formula and feel as the non-tinted one!)
• matte finish
• Can feel the silicone on the face and hair will stick to the skin
• Feels a bit heavy on the skin
• Water resistant (80 minutes)
• 1.7oz for $34
• Squeeze tube packaging
• Repurchased? No
• Finished 1 tube

Pipette Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50

• SPF 50
• 20% non-nano zinc oxide
• Not tinted (feels like the same formula as the Biossance sunscreen)
• I read somewhere that this company is related to Biossance somehow (possibly through a shared parent company?)
• Blends out easily, but leaves a shiny sheen
• Not water resistant
• 4oz for $15.99
• Squeeze tube packaging
• Repurchased? Yes
• Finished 3 tubes

Paula’s Choice RESIST Super-Light Wrinkle Defense SPF 30

• SPF 30
• 13.1% zinc oxide
• Tinted (silky lotion)
• It really is super light and feels like nothing on the skin. I never appreciated the lightness more than when I went from wearing the MDSolarSciences sunscreen to this one. The difference was night and day!
• Blends out easily and leaves some coverage to cover redness but dark hyper pigmentation spots can peak through
• Not water resistant
• 2oz for $39
• Squeeze tube packaging
• Repurchased? Yes
• Finished at least 10 tubes