Chemical sunscreens tend to be thin and sheer on the skin, but can be irritating, while mineral sunscreens are gentler but can leave a white cast.Frances Coridolfi/iStockPhoto / Getty Images
Stephanie DiPisa switched to mineral sunscreen on the advice of her dermatologist, when the chemical formula she used on her kids began causing a burning, itching sensation. But then she was presented with a new problem.
“It was just a really brutal process to try to get your toddler to put on something that looked and felt like toothpaste,” DiPisa said. This was more than a decade ago, when options for mineral sunscreens were typically thick and chalky. The experience motivated her to come up with a better option, and she founded her sunscreen brand, Solara Suncare, in 2019.
When it comes to sun protection, the two options are mineral and chemical. The reasons for choosing one over the other largely come down to personal preference. Both absorb UV light; mineral sunscreen simply uses titanium oxide and zinc oxide as its active ingredients while chemical sunscreen relies on filters such as avobenzone and oxybenzone.
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Chemical filters are thin and sheer on the skin, which make them appealing to most people. But they can also be irritating to some skin types and burn if they enter the eyes. Mineral sunscreen tends to be gentler on the skin, since zinc oxide has a calming effect. It can also be beneficial to those concerned with melasma and pigmentation, since tinted mineral sunscreen contains iron oxides, which block the visible light that triggers the skin to darken, according to Toronto dermatologist Dr. Geeta Yadav.
Out of all the commonly used filters, Yadav has the most respect for zinc oxide on its merit: It’s the only approved filter in Canada that covers the full range of UV, which includes UVB, UVA2 and UVA1 wavelengths. It’s UVA1 that penetrates the deepest and is responsible for a significant amount of long-term damage and aging. “Between the two mineral filters, it’s far better than titanium dioxide at that long-UVA end,” she says. “It’s also photostable, so it holds its protection in sunlight rather than degrading over the morning the way some UVA filters do.”
But their biggest drawback, as DiPisa pointed out, is that mineral formulations can feel pasty and leave a white cast on the skin, making them challenging and unpleasant to wear.
Both types also carry reputational baggage. The FDA set off alarm bells a few years ago when it said that seven chemical filters enter the bloodstream after one use of chemical sunscreen, which turned many people off using it without considering the nuances. Meanwhile, mineral sunscreen, embraced by the clean beauty movement, is seen by some as inferior and anti-science.
Proponents of mineral sunscreen can get conflated with those science-averse groups, said Sara Dudley, CEO of the Sunscreen Company in Grimsby, Ont., which makes a line of mineral-based sunscreen called Ava Isa. “But there’s real merit and real science.”
Solara’s sunscreens are mineral, but DiPisa doesn’t demonize chemical filters. “I’m so tired of that debate because it’s really about life choices,” she said. “What works for your skin, what works for your lifestyle.” Yadav agreed. “The ‘chemical filters are toxic’ story has badly outrun the evidence,” she said.
But, for those who prefer the benefits of mineral sunscreen, brands such as Solara have tinkered with new formulas that make their products more wearable. “The options that have become available to us over the last two or three years have become so great,” said DiPisa. Solara’s latest launch is a body sunscreen in a mist-on oil format – one of the first of its kind on the market – that sprays on evenly and invisibly. It offers 30 SPF and is made with a hydrating, skin-soothing blend of squalene, a natural oil that’s moisturizing, ginseng and ginger root.
Grimsby’s Sunscreen Company has long been a leader in zinc technology. In 2020, the brand released a sunscreen made with a plant-derived ingredient from sugar cane that’s commonly used to mattify makeup. In sunscreen, it prevents the zinc from clumping, so it helps “keep our distribution of zinc really nice and even,” said Dudley.
More recently, the brand introduced an everyday mineral sunscreen featuring topical cholesterol, which delays absorption so users have more time to rub the product in until it’s clear, according to Dudley.
Then there’s Toronto brand Bite, which recently launched a fragrance-free mineral sunscreen to pair with its plant-based insect repellent. “Scents like pineapple, coconut – they smell nice, like you’re on a vacation, but it’s actually attracting bugs,” said co-founder Jaime Hackett. Bite’s sunscreen contains two per cent titanium dioxide with zinc for a non-greasy texture and easy application (it also contains aloe, olive oil and hyaluronic acid).
These developments are coming in the wake of a tanning resurgence among Gen Z. The troubling trend has resulted in a skin cancer increase among young Canadians, according to recent data from the Canadian Dermatology Association, underscoring the real risks of UV exposure. Regardless of whether you prefer mineral or chemical sunscreen, experts such as Yadav just want you to wear it.
“The best sunscreen is still the one you’ll actually wear every morning and bother to reapply.”