Acne safe sunscreen is a tricky subject for me.

I personally don’t like to use sunscreen as a daily thing when I’m not going to be in the sun much… however, there are plenty of days when I am out in the sun longer and need to use it.

Plus, I know a lot of you do want or need to use it every day and / or live in a climate where the sun is a lot hotter than where I live in British Columbia.

However, finding acne safe sunscreen with natural ingredients and acne friendly oils in it is not that easy. Which is probably a huge reason I’ve been hesitant to ever make it a daily thing.

For many years I was using one on my face and body that was formulated locally to me and it definitely did the trick when it was needed.

However, it doesn’t do you much good since it’s only available in the small town I live in.

Plus, I also realized it had coconut oil in it, which is high on the comedogenic (aka pore clogging) scale. I don’t really think it caused me much issue, but still… I felt iffy about it.

So I went on the hunt, and decided to try out 100% Pure’s SPF 30 Argan Oil Moisturizer, which happens to have the most acne-safe ingredients I’ve ever seen in a sunscreen.

And you know what? I like it. I’m sticking with it.

The Ingredients

First of all, here are the ingredients:

Aloe Barbadensis (Organic Aloe Juice) Leaf Extract*, Argania Spinosa (Organic Argan) Kernel Oil*, Rosa Canina Seed Extract (Rosehip Oil), Tocopherol (Vitamin E), Extracts of Euphorbia Cerifera Cera (Candelilla) Wax, Camellia Sinensis (Organic Green Tea) Leaf*, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf, Origanum Vulgar (Oregano), Thymus Vulgaris (Thyme), Hydrastis Canadensis (Goldenseal), Lonicera Caprifolium Flower and Lonicera Japonica (Honeysuckle) Flower and Cinnamomum Zeylanicum Bark (Cinnamon)
Active Ingredients: 20% Zinc Oxide
* Certified Organic

And here are my list of pros when it comes to this facial sunscreen:

The oils are acne safe. Argan oil is the main oil I use in my moisturizer anyway. Rosehip oil is also non-comedogenic, and both it and Vitamin E are good for scarring. The rest of it is all natural herbal extracts.

The main sun blocking ingredient is zinc oxide which is also all natural and is found to be anti-inflammatory and helpful for treating acne.

What else?

Although you can feel the oil in the the first second you put it on, it absorbs quickly and doesn’t feel greasy or heavy at all.

In fact, I find it to be slightly drying if used alone (I have dry-ish skin). To me it feels more like a sunscreen than an actual moisturizer, so I just use my moisturizer before putting this on and that solves the problem.

This means it’s suitable for both dry or oily skin… if your skin is oily, you can use it alone if that works for you.

If your skin is dry, just use moisturizer beforehand. Everyone’s skin, of course, will react differently and you can adjust accordingly.

Also, in terms of sun protection, it does actually work … I have never gotten burned while wearing it. If I were out in the sun for most of the day, I’d probably reapply once in that time.

The cons:

Well, the thing about zinc oxide is that it’s white and is known for leaving a white cast on the skin. It’s kind of a problem with most natural sunscreens.

When you first put this sunscreen on, it does look very white, but it absorbs quickly and the whiteness fades away. I don’t actually feel like it lightens my skin at all.

However, I do feel like it very subtly changes the hue of my skin toward white/pink. If that makes any sense. I suspect the problem is because I have a very yellow skin tone, so the white is changing the tone.

If you have a pink skin tone, I doubt it would be very noticeable at all.

Below is a side by side comparison… the first one is me after only using my moisturizer. The second one is after then applying the 100% Pure sunscreen and waiting a half hour.

There is a very subtle difference:

I am considering trying to add a tiny bit of iron oxides to change the tint, which you may also consider if you have a yellow or dark skin tone (be careful though, a tiny bit goes a really long way… experiment with a small amount of sunscreen first).

Or, you know… it’s also probably something a little natural bronzer wouldn’t fix.

Anyway… that’s really my only beef with it. Aside from it coming in a small bottle and being pretty expensive… but you only need a little bit and it does go further because you’re only using it on your face.

Final Words:

Overall I think this sunscreen is a winner, and I will likely be sticking with it from on for my face on days when I need extra sun protection.

Check out my DIY moisturizer recipe too… it’s full of antioxidants like Vitamin B3, green tea, and Vitamin E that will also help to protect your skin from the sun.

On beach days when you use both this sunscreen and the moisturizer, you’ll get a double whammy of sun protection, and on regular days when you just use the DIY moisturizer, your skin is still getting a helping hand.

Also check out this Love Vitamin post for suggestions on natural sunscreens you can use for your body.

Ciao! 🙂