The Best Mineral Sunscreen for Face + Body (Kids, too!)
Thanks to the clean beauty movement, there are so many amazing mineral sunscreens on the market that offer protection without comprising your health or the environment. I wrote a blog post a long time ago that detailed out why we made the switch to safer sunscreen, but today I want to share an update with some new products I’ve been loving. Continuing reading for the sunscreens we swear by as a family, including ones that can be used as make-up or the perfect primer for your foundation.
The Best Overall Sunscreen
If you’ve followed me for a while then this shouldn’t be a surprise: my absolute favorite, go-to sunscreen with the Countersun Mineral Sunscreen Lotion and Countersun Mineral Sunscreen Mist. They go on smooth, feels lightweight and dries quickly. Both smell incredible: it reminds me of a lemon bar or lemon pound cake! The cool thing about the Mist in particular is it uses an air-powered technology instead of dangerous propellants to spray on white, then easily blends in. Plus, the nourishing formula is made without over 1,800 questionable or harmful ingredients that Beautycounter has on The Never List.
Sunscreen for Kids
I tried Pipette after seeing an advertisement for them on Instagram and absolutely loved the clean, fragrance free formulas. This was the first sunscreen we used on Olivia and we are big fans of their Tear-Free Baby Shampoo + Wash, too.
The Pipette Mineral Sunscreen stands out because out of all of the sunscreens we have tried it is by far the most lightweight! It isn’t super thick and goes on really easily. There’s no white cast. Applying sunscreen on toddlers is hard enough, I need it to go on quickly and it can’t involve too much blending. This sunscreen does just that! I even use it on myself, too. We keep a full size at home, then have a travel size for her diaper bag and stroller.
My sister swears by the Tubby Todd baby balm and raves about it! It has avocado oil in it (which I’m allergic to) so unfortunately we aren’t able to use it in our household. However, we started using the Baby Oil and Mineral Sunscreen and love them! The sunscreen dries quickly and is water resistant up to 80 minutes. It is super easy to use on toddlers, but I would not recommend it for adults. It doesn’t spread easily on larger bodies and I found myself getting frustrated trying to apply it on myself. I also want to note that it does leave a white cast, so if you have a darker complexion you may want to avoid it.
Please note that the Tubby Todd sunscreen does contain PEG’s, which is an ingredient used to thicken products and have been found to potentially be contaminated with carcinogens. You can read more about this ingredient and others to consider avoiding on The Never List.
Sunscreen To Layer Under Makeup
If you’re look for a standard, sheer mineral sunscreen to layer under makeup the Beautycounter Countersun Daily Sheer Defense Sunscreen is the perfect choice for you!
If you’re in need of extra hydration and protection, I highly recommend the Biossance Squalane + Zinc Sheer Mineral Sunscreen. I have been using a version of it from the Biossance x Reese Witherspoon Sunshine Set and absolutely love it! It layers under makeup well and gives a healthy glow to your skin because of the Squalane oil.
Tinted Sunscreen for Face
If I had to name my favorite skincare/makeup purchase of 2021 it would have been the ILIA Skin Tint Super Serum. This luxurious, lightweight tinted sunscreen not only protects your skin from UVA, UVB, UVC, and blue light, but it also provides a dewy sheer finish to your skin. I use it everyday on it’s own if I just want light coverage or I layer it under my foundation as a primer. It has a really clean ingredient list that includes hyaluronic acid, squalane, and niacinamide. This means the serum is helping to nourish and plump your skin as you use it. It’s truly a super serum!