We could also see first-hand how they felt on the skin and how quickly they absorbed. This real-life testing allowed us to examine a wide range of formulas, assessing them on their SPF level, level of water resistance, active ingredients, and the ingredients they are free from. To draw up our shortlist of favorites, we conducted hours of research on the best zinc oxide sunscreens at home and in our Manhattan lab. The latest iterations are much more cosmetically elegant and feel more like a dewy layer of moisture than a nuisance only dermatologists could love. But it’s not like the thick, goopy, white stuff that lifeguards slather on their noses. They also aren’t absorbed into the bloodstream like their chemical counterparts (something the FDA is currently investigating), and don’t demonstrate the hormonal activity that filters like oxybenzone, octinoxate, and octocrylene display in animal studies (although more research on humans is needed).1 One of the most commonly used minerals in sunscreen is zinc oxide. "Physical sunblocks, which I prefer and recommend to my patients, reflect the sun's energy away from our skin."Įach has its own pros and cons, but mineral sunscreens are generally less irritating. "Chemical sunscreen ingredients absorb the energy of the sun and undergo a chemical reaction protecting the skin from absorbing that energy," Dr. There are chemical sunscreens and mineral (or physical) sunscreens. Sunscreen formulas fall into two categories. ![]() ![]() "You want to make sure the sunscreen you pick is at least SPF 30, that it is labeled as broad-spectrum, and that it contains zinc oxide with or without titanium dioxide," says board-certified dermatologist Dr. When it comes to choosing sunscreen, some criteria are really important. You can exfoliate, mask, and moisturize until the cows come home, but if your sunscreen game isn’t on point, all the products in the world won’t save your skin-so you need to make sure you like your SPF. These are the formulas that have been recommended to us by experts, the formulas we've tried and fallen in love with, and the formulas (and brands) that are putting in the most work to be inclusive in terms of their finish and shade range.If we’ve said it once, we’ve said it a thousand times: It’s imperative to use sunscreen every day, 365 days per year, rain or shine, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. However, since my fellow beauty editor, Courtney Higgs, and I are always asked which zinc oxide sunscreens are the best money can buy, we're sharing our top 10 picks below. We also highly recommend you take a look at this helpful guide from the Environmental Working Group's (EWG) website when you're reading up on your different options. The important thing is that you're wearing sunscreen and that it has an SPF of at least 30. We'll let you do your own research to decide which kind of sunscreen is best for your own needs. And of course, there's a lot of debate about the pros and cons of mineral/physical sunscreens (the kind that feature the aforementioned zinc oxide or titanium dioxide and sit on top of the skin and reflect away the sun's rays instead of being absorbed) and chemical formulas (the kind that contain active sun filters like avobenzone, octinoxate and oxybenzone and penetrate the skin and absorb harmful UV rays to stave off damage).
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