Find out which natural sunscreens use both minerals and nontoxic ingredients in this comprehensive list!
This post contains affiliate links. You can learn more here.
We’ve been told constantly to never skip sunscreen, but why is it so controversial? Natural sunscreen is essential for skin health in the long run, but the definition of “natural” has no set definition at all!
I’ve compiled one of the biggest lists of natural sunscreens that protect our skin through minerals rather than chemicals, and you can’t forget natural sunscreen ingredients! The toxicity of your sunscreen goes much deeper than the active ingredients.
But first, let’s go over what makes mineral sunscreen effective compared to its traditional counterparts.
What is the Most Effective Natural Sunscreen?
The key to a good natural sunscreen is to find minerals in the active ingredients section on the back of your product. This can be either titanium dioxide or zinc oxide. You might even find iron oxide on the list because it helps tone down the “white cast” left behind in mineral sunscreens.
All of these minerals have been found to be safe on skin, and they work by reflecting UV rays instead of absorbing them like chemical sunscreens. And what’s even better is you don’t have to wait 15 minutes before swimming for the sunscreen to work! Once the minerals are on your skin, they’re doing their job.
Dangerous Ingredients in Traditional Sunscreen
If you’re trying natural mineral sunscreen for the first time, you may be wondering what you’ve been putting on your skin until now. It’s not pretty, unfortunately.
One of the most popular toxic ingredients in sunscreen is oxybenzone. It can also be found as Benzophenone-3 on ingredient lists. Octinoxiate is another ingredient with similar side effects.
Although it’s approved by the FDA for its ability to absorb UV rays once absorbed into the skin, it’s also been found to be hazardous for eye and skin contact. This chemical absorbs into our bloodstream and lingers for months at a time.
However, what really put oxybenzone on blast was when scientists discovered that it caused bleaching and subsequent death of coral reefs. This led to places like Hawaii banning sunscreens with this toxic ingredient.
Beware of Avobenzone!
Unfortunately, the replacement isn’t much better. Avobenzone is a popular alternative for oxybenzone because no one knows for sure if it kills coral reefs. But it can sure kill your body.
Avobenzone is fine on its own, but when exposed to sunlight, it becomes an extremely unstable substance and breaks down completely after only 30 minutes of exposure. This causes it to photodegrade and become a volatile eye irritant and allergen.
I promise I’m not telling you this to scare you! And it doesn’t mean that you’re sick, about to die, or anything like that. The problem with these ingredients is that they can lead to ailments after repeated exposure over many years.
You deserve to be an educated consumer! If everyone knew the dangers of ingredients in their personal care products, the beauty industry would look very different. But it doesn’t end there with active sunscreen ingredients.
Why You Should Care About More than The Active Ingredients in Natural Sunscreen
So you found a natural sunscreen with titanium dioxide or zinc oxide as the active ingredients. That’s a great start! But what about the rest of the ingredients?
Sunscreen is full of questionable ingredients, just like any other big-name beauty and personal care product on the market. Just because it’s mineral sunscreen, doesn’t mean that it’s safe for long-term use.
Some of the most common ingredients in sunscreen (mineral or not) include:
- Formaldehyde—No, you won’t find this directly on an ingredient list, but several ingredients have been found to release this dangerous carcinogen into products. Those ingredients include:
- Diazolidinyl urea
- Quarternium 15
- DMDM Hydantoin
- Hydroxymethylglycinate
- Parabens—A preservative that you can find in just about any beauty product. It mimics estrogen when absorbed into the body. This has resulted in hormonal imbalance, fertility issues and birth defects. It’s commonly found on ingredient lists with a very long word in front of “paraben” like propylparaben.
- Phthalates—Pronounced “faal-ates,” they are an endocrine disruptor that many suspect are the culprits behind male sperm counts dropping at an alarming rate. They are usually found in synthetic fragrances, so if you see “fragrance” on an ingredient list, run!
- Sulfates—A foaming agent behind just about any beauty product that makes suds. It’s also an emulsifier that gives lotion its lotion-y texture. Sulfates are an irritant and likely the reason behind your very sensitive skin. Did you know you can find sulfates in car engine cleaners? It’s just too intense of an ingredient to use on delicate skin.
Want to learn more about the toxic ingredients lurking in your beauty and personal care products? I wrote a whole eBook on the subject! Plus, I walk you through exactly how to make the switch on your own time. Click the button below to check it out.
The Best Natural Sunscreen for Every Skin Type
Now that we know why we should pay attention to every ingredient in our sunscreen, let’s get into what you’re here for!
Every natural sunscreen on this list has been vetted by me in terms of effectiveness and a safe ingredient list. With that in mind, let’s get started with my personal favorite natural sunscreen!
Badger Clear Zinc Oxide Sport Sunscreen SPF 35
My personal favorite natural sunscreen
Active Ingredients—Zinc oxide
Nourishing Ingredients—Sunflower and jojoba oils
Why I Love It—This is about as simple as it gets when it comes to natural sunscreen! It applies white but rubs in clear, leaving no white cast. Plus I love that it is water resistant and keeps me protected for long periods of time.
Price—$17.99
Babo Botanicals SPF 30 Sheer Zinc Continuous Spray Sunscreen
Best Natural Sunscreen Spray
Active Ingredients—Zinc oxide
Nourishing Ingredients—Calendula and Chamomile flower extracts
Why I Love It—You can’t ignore the fact that this is the only natural sunscreen spray on the market that gets approval from multiple sources! It’s effective, smells wonderful without being overpowering, and lasts just as long as traditional sunscreen spray.
Price—$18.99
Badger Kids Clear Zinc SPF 40 Sport Sunscreen
Best Natural Sunscreen for Kids
Active Ingredients—Zinc oxide
Nourishing Ingredients—Tangerine, vanilla, and sunflower oils
Why I Love It—Badger has really stepped up their game with minimal white cast! Not to mention their sport sunscreens stay put and keep working. I love the light light tangerine scent without it causing any reactions from people I know have aversions to citrus oils.
Price—$15.99
Thinksport SPF 50+ Mineral Sunscreen
Best natural vegan sunscreen
Active Ingredients—Zinc oxide
Nourishing Ingredients—Castor oil, hyaluronic acid, and aloe vera
Why I Love It—If you want a higher SPF natural sunscreen, look no further! This lotion is also full of nourishing ingredients for any skin type. But my favorite part is that it doesn’t feel oily on the skin at all! It’s a must-have for those who hate that greasy lotion feeling. And you can’t forget this this is a vegan sunscreen!
Price—$12.99
Suntegrity 5 in 1 Natural Moisturizing Face Sunscreen SPF 30
Best Natural Sunscreen for Oily Skin
Active Ingredients—zinc oxide
Nourishing Ingredients—hyaluronic acid, cucumber and green tea
Why I Love It—This facial sunscreen will nourish and even out your skin tone to help control oil production and won’t clog your pores! You might not even need to put foundation on after you apply, because it comes lightly tinted with a decent-sized shade range.
Price—$45
Solara Clean Freak Nutrient Boosted Daily Unscented Sunscreen
Best Natural Sunscreen for Eczema
Active Ingredients—Zinc oxide
Nourishing Ingredients—Ashwagandha, squalane, and Shea butter to name a few!
Why I Love It—This unscented sunscreen is bursting with nourishing ingredients to help soothe skin while protecting it from the sun’s harmful rays. And there are no essential oils which can contribute to skin sensitivity.
Price—$28
Goddess Garden Sport SPF 50 Mineral Sunscreen Lotion
Active Ingredients—Zinc oxide
Nourishing Ingredients—Aloe Vera, Coconut oil and Shea butter
Why I Love It—This natural sunscreen is a great option for those with sensitive skin. Plus, you get the extra SPF protection and water resistance for a long-lasting application. It’s also certified cruelty-free!
Price—$17.99
Beauty by Earth Mineral Sunscreen SPF 25
Active Ingredients—Zinc oxide
Nourishing Ingredients—Aloe Vera, Shea butter, and coconut oil
Why I Love It—It smells lovely without having that familiar-yet-obnoxious sunscreen smell, and it doesn’t make my skin feel like an oil slick. In fact, I feel like I’m applying regular lotion instead of sunblock. It does have a slightly thicker feeling to it, but don’t let that fool you!
Price—$23.99
All Good Mineral Sport Sunscreen SPF 30
Active Ingredients—Zinc oxide
Nourishing Ingredients—Shea butter, coconut oil, aloe vera
Why I Love It—All Good can be found in some grocery stores, which makes this a great accessible option! There’s little to no white cast, and this lasts me a good 80 minutes, just like regular sunscreen but without the chemicals.
Price—$16.00
Earth Mama Tinted Mineral Sunscreen Lotion SPF 40
Active Ingredients—Zinc oxide
Nourishing Ingredients—Coconut, olive, red raspberry and Argan oils
Why I Love It—Don’t let the tinted feature of this natural sunscreen deter you away! It does have a slight tint to it, but it doesn’t look cake-y on skin. In fact, I can’t see it at all when I apply it! At the most it works to even out my skin tone, which I’m not mad about.
Price—$19.99
Is There a Natural Alternative to Sunscreen?
Of course! Did you know there are natural sunscreen alternatives hiding in a few everyday foods? There are some oils that have a natural SPF of 5-50.
These oils include:
- Coconut oil—SPF of 5
- Carrot seed oil—SPF of 40
- Red raspberry seed oil—SPF of 50
Slathering these oils on your skin should work just as well as a natural sunscreen! Think of it like tanning oil that smells better and actually nourishes your skin. You could easily keep some homemade natural sunscreen on hand just by keeping these oils in your cabinet.
What Can I Use Instead of Sunscreen?
If you’d rather not put any concoction on your skin at all, there are options! You can always wear a hat and a long-sleeve shirt to keep your skin covered and out of direct UV exposure.
Although I do want to mention that is it possible to get a sunburn through your clothes. I’ve personally never had it happen, but it could happen to you.
There are plenty of clothing with SPF you can check out if you’d rather forego sunscreen and cover up instead. But those are your options! You can either cover up in fabric or sunscreen to avoid getting a nasty burn.
And if you do get a sunburn, not to worry! I’ve got all kinds of natural sunburn remedies for you to check out. They always make a huge difference for me.
Final Thoughts on Natural Sunscreen
Whichever natural sunscreen you decide to pick, you can move forward knowing how to find good ingredients in everything you come across! And that’s a powerful thing.
I know that the white cast left behind by mineral sunscreens can get a bit annoying, but there are products out there that remedy that issue! Clean beauty is getting so much better to the point that it rivals its toxic counterparts beautifully.
I’m just disrupting the beauty industry one article at a time. And if you want to try a clean beauty lifestyle by switching out your sunscreen, I’ll be cheering you on in the background.
Related to Natural Sunscreen:
