Best splurge-worthy
Sephora
This luxe sunscreen serum from Dr. Brandt Skincare comes in a rose gold-accented bottle fit for aesthetic shots on Pinterest vanities. Use the dropper to draw a lightweight, smooth liquid that detects and corrects hyperpigmentation and offers protection from UVA/UVB rays. This sunscreen uses non-nano zinc oxide, which is generally considered to be safer than its nano-sized counterparts (via Babo Botanicals). It’s also infused with plankton extract which, the brand claims, can detect hyperpigmentation and even out skin tone. The radiant finish makes this perfect for the last step in your skincare routine.
On Sephora, 8,800 people have favorited the sunscreen. One well-traveled customer used it across the globe, “The sunscreen itself is really nice. I never burn when I use it. I’ve tried it against the Mexico, Dominican Republic & UAE sun and it never let me down.” Another said, “The product offers me good sun protection while providing a beautiful healthy glow on my skin. It doesn’t collide with the make up application — it actually serves as a decent base. My ultra-sensitive and combination skin accepts it — so it’s definitely a KEEPER for me.” Price: The Dr. Brandt Liquid Sun Shield Daily Brightening Mineral Sunscreen retails for $65 on Sephora. Protection: SPF 50 Type: Mineral
Best cult-favorite
Supergoop!
A list of the best sunscreens without Supergoop! just doesn’t feel right (there’s another one of its products in this list, too). The skincare brand provides a broad spectrum of products intended to make sunscreen a part of your daily routine. “Consumers today are finally starting to understand the importance of daily SPF and I’m so proud to have played a part in that, but by no means are we finished. We won’t rest until people think about daily SPF just as they do buckling their seat belt or brushing their teeth,” founder Holly Thaggard told Vanity Fair.
With over 213 million views on TikTok (for the #supergoop), the brand clearly has a cult following. One of their best-selling products is the Mineral Mattescreen. The formula, which is 100% mineral-based, works to blur pores and leave you with a matte finish. It’s great for people with oily skin but perfect for summers, too. A customer on their website said, “I’ve been looking for a daily sunscreen that doesn’t feel icky for years! Have tried at least 10! This is the first and only one that I actually love putting on!” Price: The Supergoop! Mattescreen retails for $38 on Supergoop! Protection: SPF 40 Type: Mineral
Best for darker skin tones
Ulta
For people with darker skin tones, sunscreens can often leave a white cast that makes you want to use it less. Shontay Lundy, the founder of Black Girl Sunscreen, told Business Insider that she was “underwhelmed” by the options for people of color. “Normally, Black people don’t wear sunscreen because we weren’t taught to do so,” she said. However, skipping or skimping on sunscreen comes with its consequences. “(Post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation) is much more likely to happen in us because our melanin kicks into overdrive,” dermatologist Mona Gohara told USA Today. “If we don’t wear sunscreen, we can be left with hyperpigmentation and brown marks that can last for a long time.”
And so, Lundy created her brand “to find a solution for eliminating white residue and making women of color feel great and look great in the sun.” The brand’s best-selling sunscreen is a reef-safe, ultra-sheer moisturizing cream that is water-resistant and infused with skin-loving ingredients. Avocado, jojoba, and sunflower oil moisturize and reduce inflammation while cacao and carrot juice provide antioxidants. One reviewer on Ulta said, “I almost cried when I found this and used it! Finally a good sunscreen that won’t leave a white cast making my brown skin look ghostly or grey! Absolutely love it! Amazing hydration, would recommend to all POC!” Price: Black Girl Sunscreen retails for $15.99 on Ulta.
Protection: SPF 30 Type: Chemical
Best tinted
Target
For those that want a daily lightweight base, a tinted BB cream or sunscreen might be the perfect essential to add to your makeup bag. The tinted sunscreen from All Good is a great contender; its mineral-based protection has SPF 30 and is filled with ingredients that repair the skin barrier. Both calendula and buriti oil soothe the skin while rosehip oil instills hydration. The sunscreen is also reef-safe and does not contain nano zinc oxide particles. The soft tint is suitable for all skin tones, according to the brand.
One Target customer said that it gave them color: “I love this product! Gives my pale legs color without making my sun spots look worse, all while protecting my skin from the sun.” Another, with a darker skin tone, said, “I have tan skin so mineral sunscreen is tricky for me. I like this one since it doesn’t leave a cast and the tint isn’t super noticeable.” Price: The All Good Tinted Sunscreen retails for $15.99 on Target. Protection: SPF 30 Type: Mineral
Best chemical
Sephora
Many prefer chemical sunscreens as they don’t usually leave white casts and work better as bases for makeup. “With chemical blockers, they’re going to work like a sponge and absorb the sun’s rays and get rid of them by converting them to heat,” Dr. Klint Peebles told AMA, noting that “they’re often easier to rub into the skin and are the ones that have generally been more commercially available.”
The Shiseido Ultimate Sun Protector Lotion is a chemical sunscreen with SPF 50 that 37,900 people on Sephora have favorited. The sunscreen does not have oxybenzone listed as one of its ingredients, but it does have other chemicals like avobenzone, homosalate, and octisalate. The brand also boasts of including HeatForce technology, where heat-sensing essence is activated by external heat, and WetForce Technology, where water bonds with the negative ions to create a barrier, in the formula. One reviewer on Sephora said, “This sunscreen does amazing under my makeup. Makes me look a little oily at first but it settles in nicely.” Another said, “Being someone who has a dark skin complexion it’s hard to find sunscreens that don’t leave a white cast but this sunscreen blends into the skin perfectly! I also love that it doesn’t pill on top of other skincare products and doesn’t clog my pores or make me breakout.”
Price: The Shiseido Ultimate Sun Protector Lotion retails for $49 on Sephora. Protection: SPF 50 Type: Chemical
Best for under make-up
Supergoop!
If you wear any kind of makeup, your sunscreen often becomes a base for your look. Makeup, by itself, usually doesn’t have enough SPF to protect you throughout the day so it’s best to invest in a sunscreen that does well under your foundation. Enter Supergoop’s Glow Screen, a daily primer with SPF 40 that leaves your skin with a dewy, glowy finish. One reviewer on the brand’s website said that it gives them a “lightweight, sheer tint that wears well under makeup. I now wear it daily; on its own sometimes and as a beautiful, protective primer under makeup.”
Celebrity makeup artist Erica Bogart approves of it too. “I’m obsessed with this product, this is a new go-to — I’m wearing it, rocking it, every single day…It creates a very opalescent, luminous effect on the skin,” Bogart told The Desire Company. “This is awesome to hydrate and prep your skin with no makeup or underneath your makeup for [an] everyday glow.” Price: Supergoop! Glow Screen retails for $36 on Supergoop! Protection: SPF 40 Type: Chemical
15 Best Sunscreens For Your Face
theshots.co/Shutterstock
We may receive a commission on purchases made from links. It’s only in the last couple decades that we’ve recognized the importance of sunscreen; we’re no longer delicately roasting away in the cancerous warmth of ultraviolet rays. UV light, according to dermatologist Evelyn Jones, “is our biggest risk factor for skin cancer.” “The UVL rays cause damage to our skin cells increasing the risk of skin aging and skin cancer. Using sunscreen on a daily basis is critical to protect the skin cells from this damage. This includes cloudy days when up to 80% of the UVL rays will penetrate through the clouds,” Dr. Jones told AMA.
Since we’re never safe from the sun, even in the winter, Dr. Jones advised, “365 days of the year — if you just plan and are intentional about putting sunscreen on everywhere the sun can see, then you’re going to be better off and better protected.” To be better equipped, invest in two kinds of sunscreen – one that’s formulated for your body and the other for your face. Most sunscreens for your face “are often designed to be more easily absorbed and feel lighter,” according to dermatologist Neelam A. Vashi (via She Knows). If you’re in the market for a new face sunscreen, shop around as you scroll.
We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.
Since we’re never safe from the sun, even in the winter, Dr. Jones advised, “365 days of the year — if you just plan and are intentional about putting sunscreen on everywhere the sun can see, then you’re going to be better off and better protected.” To be better equipped, invest in two kinds of sunscreen – one that’s formulated for your body and the other for your face. Most sunscreens for your face “are often designed to be more easily absorbed and feel lighter,” according to dermatologist Neelam A. Vashi (via She Knows). If you’re in the market for a new face sunscreen, shop around as you scroll.
How we selected
verona studio/Shutterstock
Best overall
One customer said, “My [dermatologist] recommended this [to] me since I’ve got super sensitive skin from using retinol for acne and anti-aging. I’ve TRIED to find a cheaper face sunscreen that is this calming, effective, non-pore-clogging and goes on smoothly under makeup — I just haven’t. This one is the best. I can’t live without it and I’ll just have to cheap out on other products because I’ve decided, ultimately, that this one is just worth its weight in gold.”
Protection: SPF 46
Type: Mineral
Best budget
If you haven’t already climbed aboard the Cetaphil fandom, we’d recommend starting with its multifunctional facial moisturizer and sunscreen. Oil-free as well as lightweight, this moisturizer is the only skincare product you’ll need post-cleansing. Enhanced with vitamin E, this moisturizer helps repair and hydrate your skin barrier while providing broad-spectrum protection with SPF 50. It’s fragrance-free and non-comedogenic; it works for all skin types, from acne-prone to sensitive.
Protection: SPF 50
Type: Mineral
Best drugstore
One reviewer said, “I love this sunscreen because it’s easy to spread and doesn’t leave you feeling greasy and heavy like a lot of facial sunscreens do. It’s great for sensitive and acne prone skin. I also noticed water doesn’t reactivate it and make it oily. Perfect for swimming, the beach or just hanging out in the sun! It goes everywhere with me.”
Protection: SPF 60
Type: Chemical
Best splurge-worthy
Sephora
This luxe sunscreen serum from Dr. Brandt Skincare comes in a rose gold-accented bottle fit for aesthetic shots on Pinterest vanities. Use the dropper to draw a lightweight, smooth liquid that detects and corrects hyperpigmentation and offers protection from UVA/UVB rays. This sunscreen uses non-nano zinc oxide, which is generally considered to be safer than its nano-sized counterparts (via Babo Botanicals). It’s also infused with plankton extract which, the brand claims, can detect hyperpigmentation and even out skin tone. The radiant finish makes this perfect for the last step in your skincare routine.
On Sephora, 8,800 people have favorited the sunscreen. One well-traveled customer used it across the globe, “The sunscreen itself is really nice. I never burn when I use it. I’ve tried it against the Mexico, Dominican Republic & UAE sun and it never let me down.” Another said, “The product offers me good sun protection while providing a beautiful healthy glow on my skin. It doesn’t collide with the make up application — it actually serves as a decent base. My ultra-sensitive and combination skin accepts it — so it’s definitely a KEEPER for me.” Price: The Dr. Brandt Liquid Sun Shield Daily Brightening Mineral Sunscreen retails for $65 on Sephora. Protection: SPF 50 Type: Mineral
On Sephora, 8,800 people have favorited the sunscreen. One well-traveled customer used it across the globe, “The sunscreen itself is really nice. I never burn when I use it. I’ve tried it against the Mexico, Dominican Republic & UAE sun and it never let me down.” Another said, “The product offers me good sun protection while providing a beautiful healthy glow on my skin. It doesn’t collide with the make up application — it actually serves as a decent base. My ultra-sensitive and combination skin accepts it — so it’s definitely a KEEPER for me.”
Price: The Dr. Brandt Liquid Sun Shield Daily Brightening Mineral Sunscreen retails for $65 on Sephora.
Type: Mineral
Best cult-favorite
Supergoop!
A list of the best sunscreens without Supergoop! just doesn’t feel right (there’s another one of its products in this list, too). The skincare brand provides a broad spectrum of products intended to make sunscreen a part of your daily routine. “Consumers today are finally starting to understand the importance of daily SPF and I’m so proud to have played a part in that, but by no means are we finished. We won’t rest until people think about daily SPF just as they do buckling their seat belt or brushing their teeth,” founder Holly Thaggard told Vanity Fair.
With over 213 million views on TikTok (for the #supergoop), the brand clearly has a cult following. One of their best-selling products is the Mineral Mattescreen. The formula, which is 100% mineral-based, works to blur pores and leave you with a matte finish. It’s great for people with oily skin but perfect for summers, too. A customer on their website said, “I’ve been looking for a daily sunscreen that doesn’t feel icky for years! Have tried at least 10! This is the first and only one that I actually love putting on!” Price: The Supergoop! Mattescreen retails for $38 on Supergoop! Protection: SPF 40 Type: Mineral
With over 213 million views on TikTok (for the #supergoop), the brand clearly has a cult following. One of their best-selling products is the Mineral Mattescreen. The formula, which is 100% mineral-based, works to blur pores and leave you with a matte finish. It’s great for people with oily skin but perfect for summers, too. A customer on their website said, “I’ve been looking for a daily sunscreen that doesn’t feel icky for years! Have tried at least 10! This is the first and only one that I actually love putting on!”
Price: The Supergoop! Mattescreen retails for $38 on Supergoop!
Protection: SPF 40
Best for acne-prone skin
Best for darker skin tones
Ulta
For people with darker skin tones, sunscreens can often leave a white cast that makes you want to use it less. Shontay Lundy, the founder of Black Girl Sunscreen, told Business Insider that she was “underwhelmed” by the options for people of color. “Normally, Black people don’t wear sunscreen because we weren’t taught to do so,” she said. However, skipping or skimping on sunscreen comes with its consequences. “(Post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation) is much more likely to happen in us because our melanin kicks into overdrive,” dermatologist Mona Gohara told USA Today. “If we don’t wear sunscreen, we can be left with hyperpigmentation and brown marks that can last for a long time.”
And so, Lundy created her brand “to find a solution for eliminating white residue and making women of color feel great and look great in the sun.” The brand’s best-selling sunscreen is a reef-safe, ultra-sheer moisturizing cream that is water-resistant and infused with skin-loving ingredients. Avocado, jojoba, and sunflower oil moisturize and reduce inflammation while cacao and carrot juice provide antioxidants. One reviewer on Ulta said, “I almost cried when I found this and used it! Finally a good sunscreen that won’t leave a white cast making my brown skin look ghostly or grey! Absolutely love it! Amazing hydration, would recommend to all POC!” Price: Black Girl Sunscreen retails for $15.99 on Ulta.
Protection: SPF 30 Type: Chemical
And so, Lundy created her brand “to find a solution for eliminating white residue and making women of color feel great and look great in the sun.” The brand’s best-selling sunscreen is a reef-safe, ultra-sheer moisturizing cream that is water-resistant and infused with skin-loving ingredients. Avocado, jojoba, and sunflower oil moisturize and reduce inflammation while cacao and carrot juice provide antioxidants. One reviewer on Ulta said, “I almost cried when I found this and used it! Finally a good sunscreen that won’t leave a white cast making my brown skin look ghostly or grey! Absolutely love it! Amazing hydration, would recommend to all POC!”
Price: Black Girl Sunscreen retails for $15.99 on Ulta.
Protection: SPF 30
Type: Chemical
Best for reapplication
Zubritsky recommended Sun Bum’s daily sunscreen face mist, and it’s one that many are obsessed with. The face mist has SPF 30, which is adequate sun protection when reapplying. One reviewer, whose life changed with this product, said, “I absolutely love this stuff! I was looking for a daily sunscreen that would easily spray on so I’d actually remember to use it daily, this stuff exceeded my expectations! Easy to apply, amazing sun protection and has a delightful scent! 10/10 recommend!”
Best tinted
Target
For those that want a daily lightweight base, a tinted BB cream or sunscreen might be the perfect essential to add to your makeup bag. The tinted sunscreen from All Good is a great contender; its mineral-based protection has SPF 30 and is filled with ingredients that repair the skin barrier. Both calendula and buriti oil soothe the skin while rosehip oil instills hydration. The sunscreen is also reef-safe and does not contain nano zinc oxide particles. The soft tint is suitable for all skin tones, according to the brand.
One Target customer said that it gave them color: “I love this product! Gives my pale legs color without making my sun spots look worse, all while protecting my skin from the sun.” Another, with a darker skin tone, said, “I have tan skin so mineral sunscreen is tricky for me. I like this one since it doesn’t leave a cast and the tint isn’t super noticeable.” Price: The All Good Tinted Sunscreen retails for $15.99 on Target. Protection: SPF 30 Type: Mineral
One Target customer said that it gave them color: “I love this product! Gives my pale legs color without making my sun spots look worse, all while protecting my skin from the sun.” Another, with a darker skin tone, said, “I have tan skin so mineral sunscreen is tricky for me. I like this one since it doesn’t leave a cast and the tint isn’t super noticeable.”
Price: The All Good Tinted Sunscreen retails for $15.99 on Target.
Best multitasking
Best water-resistant
However, water-resistant isn’t the same as waterproof. You still need to reapply your sunscreen regardless of its ‘80 minute’ claim. “It’s all called water-resistant because it will wear off more slowly, but all sunscreens are going to wear off. There’s nothing that you put on and then you don’t have to do it again. Usually, those water-resistant formulations will wear off in about 40 to 80 minutes,” dermatologist Olushola Akinshemoyin Vaughn told Wisconsin Public Radio. But if you’re in the water for a while, this paraben-free and fragrance-free option is definitely the one you want to have in your beach bag.
Best reef-safe
Best mineral
Protection: SPF 35
Best chemical
Many prefer chemical sunscreens as they don’t usually leave white casts and work better as bases for makeup. “With chemical blockers, they’re going to work like a sponge and absorb the sun’s rays and get rid of them by converting them to heat,” Dr. Klint Peebles told AMA, noting that “they’re often easier to rub into the skin and are the ones that have generally been more commercially available.”
The Shiseido Ultimate Sun Protector Lotion is a chemical sunscreen with SPF 50 that 37,900 people on Sephora have favorited. The sunscreen does not have oxybenzone listed as one of its ingredients, but it does have other chemicals like avobenzone, homosalate, and octisalate. The brand also boasts of including HeatForce technology, where heat-sensing essence is activated by external heat, and WetForce Technology, where water bonds with the negative ions to create a barrier, in the formula. One reviewer on Sephora said, “This sunscreen does amazing under my makeup. Makes me look a little oily at first but it settles in nicely.” Another said, “Being someone who has a dark skin complexion it’s hard to find sunscreens that don’t leave a white cast but this sunscreen blends into the skin perfectly! I also love that it doesn’t pill on top of other skincare products and doesn’t clog my pores or make me breakout.”
Price: The Shiseido Ultimate Sun Protector Lotion retails for $49 on Sephora. Protection: SPF 50 Type: Chemical
The Shiseido Ultimate Sun Protector Lotion is a chemical sunscreen with SPF 50 that 37,900 people on Sephora have favorited. The sunscreen does not have oxybenzone listed as one of its ingredients, but it does have other chemicals like avobenzone, homosalate, and octisalate. The brand also boasts of including HeatForce technology, where heat-sensing essence is activated by external heat, and WetForce Technology, where water bonds with the negative ions to create a barrier, in the formula.
One reviewer on Sephora said, “This sunscreen does amazing under my makeup. Makes me look a little oily at first but it settles in nicely.” Another said, “Being someone who has a dark skin complexion it’s hard to find sunscreens that don’t leave a white cast but this sunscreen blends into the skin perfectly! I also love that it doesn’t pill on top of other skincare products and doesn’t clog my pores or make me breakout.”
Price: The Shiseido Ultimate Sun Protector Lotion retails for $49 on Sephora.
Best for under make-up
If you wear any kind of makeup, your sunscreen often becomes a base for your look. Makeup, by itself, usually doesn’t have enough SPF to protect you throughout the day so it’s best to invest in a sunscreen that does well under your foundation. Enter Supergoop’s Glow Screen, a daily primer with SPF 40 that leaves your skin with a dewy, glowy finish. One reviewer on the brand’s website said that it gives them a “lightweight, sheer tint that wears well under makeup. I now wear it daily; on its own sometimes and as a beautiful, protective primer under makeup.”
Celebrity makeup artist Erica Bogart approves of it too. “I’m obsessed with this product, this is a new go-to — I’m wearing it, rocking it, every single day…It creates a very opalescent, luminous effect on the skin,” Bogart told The Desire Company. “This is awesome to hydrate and prep your skin with no makeup or underneath your makeup for [an] everyday glow.” Price: Supergoop! Glow Screen retails for $36 on Supergoop! Protection: SPF 40 Type: Chemical
Celebrity makeup artist Erica Bogart approves of it too. “I’m obsessed with this product, this is a new go-to — I’m wearing it, rocking it, every single day…It creates a very opalescent, luminous effect on the skin,” Bogart told The Desire Company. “This is awesome to hydrate and prep your skin with no makeup or underneath your makeup for [an] everyday glow.”
Price: Supergoop! Glow Screen retails for $36 on Supergoop!
