3 Things You Need to Know About Sunscreen

More and more people want a healthier sunscreen - but if you're new to clean beauty, it can feel genuinely confusing to figure out why natural is better (and harder still to find one you actually love).

Ideally, you want an SPF that does two jobs: lowers your cancer risk AND slows down skin aging. To understand how, let's start with the active ingredients:

• Mainstream chemical sunscreens usually rely on things like Avobenzone, Oxybenzone, Octocrylene, Homosalate, Octisalate - synthetic compounds that degrade quickly (so they need a bunch of filler ingredients to stay effective), are known hormone disruptors, can damage skin, are potentially photocarcinogenic, and generate free radicals (which age skin faster). Not exactly the glow-up we're after.
• In the natural world, there are only two options: Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide. Titanium Dioxide is also linked to free radicals, which leaves us with one winner: Zinc Oxide. Zinc Oxide is hand's down the best option for limiting sun damage and avoiding photoaging.
• Note #1 - Zinc Oxide is naturally opaque and white, so it takes real skill to formulate it into something that goes on smoothly and looks great. A lot of natural sunscreens get this wrong and leave that dreaded white film. (More on how to avoid that in a minute.)
• Note #2 - Mainstream sunscreen brands love to hype high SPF numbers as a marketing angle - but the math doesn't back it up. SPF 15 blocks 93% of UVB rays, SPF 30 blocks 97%, and SPF 50 blocks 98%. The higher you go, the smaller the gain. We'd rather use a clean SPF 15 or 30 with Zinc Oxide than a chemical SPF 50 with questionable ingredients. (Remember - whatever's in that bottle is literally getting baked into your skin by the sun.)

Particle size might sound like a nerdy detail, but it's the difference between a sunscreen that protects you and one that sneaks into your bloodstream ... where it can mess with your hormones, build up over time, and do quiet damage.

Here's the breakdown, from most harmful to cleanest:

3 - Most harmful - any of the synthetic/chemical sunscreen ingredients. They're smaller than nanoparticles and specifically designed to absorb into your skin and enter your bloodstream.

2 - Better than mainstream, but still not ideal - Nanoparticles. When a brand wants Zinc Oxide to disappear on the skin (no white cast), one way to do it is to shrink the particles down to nano-size. The problem: nanoparticles are a health concern when inhaled (hello, spray SPF), toxic to marine life, and banned in many countries for both reasons.

1 - The healthiest option - regular Zinc Oxide. It's a physical barrier sunscreen - meaning it forms a film that sits on top of your skin and reflects/scatters UV, rather than soaking in. And the good news? There are now plenty of clean, smart ways to make Zinc Oxide wear beautifully without going nano. It's just a matter of finding a brand that works for you.

Note - You can't tell from a bottle whether a sunscreen uses nanoparticles. It's considered a process, not an ingredient, so companies aren't required to disclose it - not on the label, not anywhere. The only way to know is to ask the brand directly, or to stick with brands you trust.

We always recommend looking for a sunscreen that does double duty: cancer prevention AND anti-aging. Here's what to check before you buy:

• What's the active ingredient? If it's not Zinc Oxide, it's not doing your wrinkles any favours - and it's almost guaranteed to come packaged with other ingredients that aren't great for your health or your skin.
• What's the main inactive ingredient? The sunscreens we love list an oil (like sunflower) or an infusion (like green tea) as the first inactive ingredient. Most mainstream SPFs list water first - or something we can't pronounce. Quick side note: anything with water as the first ingredient needs heavy-duty preservatives to stay shelf-stable, and those aren't doing your skin any favours either.
• Is it just sun protection, or does it also have anti-aging ingredients? Totally up to you - but if anti-aging matters, pick an SPF that does both. (Both of our facial SPF options do this beautifully.)
• Cost isn't the answer. You can safely assume the cheapest sunscreens are using synthetic ingredients (synthetic SPF is much cheaper to produce than Zinc Oxide). But a high price tag doesn't guarantee clean either - plenty of luxury brands hide cheap synthetics behind fluffy language and a few "hero" ingredients that sound healthy. A few good ingredients in a bottle of otherwise harmful ones aren't doing the job they should.
• Are you applying it properly? Even the best clean Zinc Oxide SPFs need a little rubbing in to look smooth - not much, and very worth it. Pro tip: if your skin is dry, apply a facial or body oil first. The sunscreen will glide on beautifully. And please - don't write off natural sunscreen because one brand didn't work for you. The "whiteness" varies wildly between brands. Try a few until you find your match. It's worth it.