So… the acne gods always do this to me.
I spend all this time researching a product, ordering it, trying it out, deciding whether or not it’s worthy… and if I decide I like it, then I finally write a blog post to recommend it to you.
Aaaaand then they go and discontinue it.
That’s what happened with the 100% Pure Argan oil SPF sunscreen I recently recommended. I swear they discontinued it the literal second I pressed “post” on that blog! urgggggghhh.
So then the hunt began to find a replacement recommendation. Which so far has not been too fruitful. Really clean, acne safe sunscreen that looks and feels good is VERY difficult to come by.
So far I have only found one in which I feel awesome about every ingredient in it. It’s Josh Rosebrook’s SPF 30 Nutrient Day Cream.
It was brought to my attention by a Naturally Clear Skin Academy member along with a rave review.
So I decided to give it a shot.
I just got back from two weeks of sunny desert rock climbing in Nevada and Utah, where I tested it out.
Crushing desert rocks
And the good news?? I LOVE it. I truly do. Much more than the 100% Pure one.
There is some bad news too, but I’ll save that for after.
Why I Love This Sunscreen
Well first of all, like I mentioned, the ingredients are completely stellar.
It’s a natural, mineral based sunscreen so not only does it leave out the nasty chemicals of conventional sunscreen, but it also has no comedogenic oils and is absolutely full to the brim with healing botanical ingredients.
Active Ingredient: 12% Non Nano, Uncoated, Micronized Zinc Oxide
*Aloe Vera Leaf Juice, *Shea Butter, *Evening Primrose Oil, *Hemp Seed Oil, *Jojoba Oil, *Borage Seed Oil, *Almond Oil, *Grape Seed Oil, *Sesame Oil, *Avocado Oil, *Olive Oil, *Sea Buckthorn Oil, *Broccoli Oil, *Calendula, *Bilberry, *Chamomile, *Burdock, *Rosemary, *Fennel, *Dandelion, *Rose Hips, *Catnip, *Chickweed, *Neem, *Skullcap, *Ginkgo Leaf, *Linden Flower, *Hawthorn Berry, *Green Tea, *Flax, *Nettle, *Sage, *Marshmallow Root, *Cayenne, *Ginseng, *Peppermint, *St. John’s Wort, *Alfalfa, *Vitamin E, ‡Candelilla Wax, *Guar Gum, *Gum Arabic, §Xanthan Gum, §Potassium Sorbate, *Benzoin Resin, †Carrot Seed Oil.
* CERTIFIED ORGANIC
† ORGANIC
‡ WILDCRAFTED
§ NON-GMO PLANT SOURCED
No Animal Testing, Made in the USA
It has a light pleasant scent… vaguely like marshmallows.
I can safely say it did NOT break me out. I didn’t have a single pimple on the entire trip.
Not only this, but it’s very light, not greasy, absorbs easily, and the best part…. NO white cast. At all. I’ve read other reviews that say that is true even on darker skin tones.
That’s the main thing I didn’t love about the 100% Pure one… it did leave a very slight white cast on the skin. But this one doesn’t at all.
It also feels moisturizing and doesn’t make my skin feel dry later in the day. In the mornings, I applied it after my DIY moisturizer, and then reapplied throughout the day.
But it would totally work as a standalone moisturizer as well and is perfect for a daily sunscreen.
One downside with all sunscreens is that if you truly want protection throughout the day, you do have to reapply though.
I found in the direct, hot, desert heat that I did in fact have to reapply every two hours to stop from burning. But… I mean, I was out there all day.
If you use it as a daily anti-aging sunscreen in which you’re only in direct sunlight for a short time, if at all, you’d probably be ok without, or maybe one reapplication in early afternoon.
But either way – I do really love this sunscreen. It’s the best I have ever found in both ingredients and performance…..
Why I Hate this Sunscreen
The bad news? The reason I kind of hate it even though I love it?
It’s expensive.
Like $85 US.
It’s fine if you can afford it, but I generally don’t like recommending products that may be prohibitively out of price range for many people. I didn’t even want to try it at first for this reason.
But it’s true that you get what you pay for and quality can often cost dollah bills. Price doesn’t always indicate quality, of course… many “luxury creams” are total rip offs full of cheap junky ingredients, but this one is clearly legit.
And without yet having found any awesome alternative, I decided to give it a shot and recommend it, despite my resistance… at least until I find a less expensive one that I really like, if I ever do.
In the end, I’m so impressed with this sunscreen cream that I think it’s worth the splurge.
However, if there is no way you can justify it, there is one I have tried in the past called Live Live & Organic Natural Sunscreen which has pretty good ingredients, and as far as I recall, didn’t break me out, and had a nice light texture and no white cast.
However, it seems unclear as to whether that has been discontinued as well, since it seems to be perpetually out of stock on Amazon and says it’s discontinued on iHerb. It appears as though you can still get it through their website though.
So if Josh Rosebrook is out of your price range, then Live Live might be your ticket. And if it turns out that’s actually been discontinued too, then excuse me while I go in a corner and rip my hair out.
Do you know of an all natural mineral sunscreen with only acne safe oils and ingredients that also looks and feels great? (Is this so much to ask??) – Shout it out in the comments below!
Hi Tracy, great article I found a good sunscreen from moogoo, natural sunscreen SPF 30, or cover up buttercup SPF 15 natural moisturiser. Hope these may be helpful to you or other readers. Regards Ian
Thanks Ian, I’ll check em out!
Thank you so much for sharing Tracy! This sunscreen really is very nice but I can no longer afford it. I tried the derma E facial SPF recently and had good luck with it however it does need a facial mist to help it spread and blend more easily into the skin and It can leave a slight white cast. I also tried the DeVita but it clog my pores right away which is likely due to the stearic acid and I glyceryl stearate SE (without SE is okay). Those are both clogging ingredients. What I do now actually, is I blend my oils of cranberry seed oil, red raspberry seed oil, prickly pear seed oil, and enzymatic a passion fruit seed oil (All truly acne safe! All from Garden Of Wisdom, gear quality oils here) with my blend of zinc oxide, iron oxides, and tiny bit of sheen Mica for glow and a few spritzes of the Mad Hippie mist in my hand. The zinc blend I run through a single cup grinder I use specifically for makeup making, have to grind to incorporate oxides well. I do a quick rub together of my hands and I spread and Pat the emulsion on my face. It’s hydrating because of the mist, moisturizing and has antioxidants because of the oil’s which are all cold pressed and great quality, and it’s quite water resistant. It’s the perfect spf moisturizer without all the clogging fatty alcohols and emulsifiers. I can customize how much zinc blend I use and it doesn’t leave all white cast since I added just enough to neutralize it. This worked really great for me last summer too. I didn’t experience any burn, tan, or darkening of pigmentation as well as no breakouts Or clogging. I know it protected my skin and provided some benefit particularly because my pigmentation actually lightened! I Can contribute that to most of my skin care routine as well but I know that this spf mix protected my skin since pigmentation improved and no new spots happens. I will likely stick to this because it works so well against the sun and it keeps my skin moisturized and hydrated with the humectants in the mist and moisturized with lipids from oils! The only issue is that it isn’t exactly travel friendly but I am OK with that because it works so well for me! I hope this can help someone!
Hi Ashlynn! Thanks for sharing 🙂 I recently started going a lot of reading about making your own sunscreen and came across this blog post that kind of convinced me that it may not be such a good idea:
https://realizebeauty.wordpress.com/2012/12/30/the-trouble-with-making-your-own-sunscreen/
I guess zinc clumps together and making a formulation with a good SPF is actually very difficult.. if it clumps (whether visibly or not), it can create holes in the coverage which actually magnify the sun rays and cause more damage than not wearing it! I found her post and her answers to everyone’s comments very interesting and informative. But she does seem to suggest in the comments that if you aren’t getting burnt with your homemade formula (after thoroughly testing it out), then you may have hit on something good. But the only way to know for sure is sunscreen testing, which is around $3000. So the risk may not be worth it?? I don’t know, but it’s good info to consider!!
thank you Tracy! This is a good read. Unfortunately I have been burnt using bought sunscreens (zinc active) too and have a hard time trusting those as well! The DermaE I tried tends to pill without using a mist which may be diluting their formula, so does this mean the zinc could be clumping together more in some areas and leaving skin exposed in others if it’s pilling? Spf is such a difficult and complicated thing! I really would rather not make my own spf, really, but it seems the alternative is very expensive creams like the Josh Rosebrook or something that will cause breakouts =/
The comments on that article are really good! So informative and detailed. Basically, something has to give. If I cannot find a feasible natural option for sunscreen to use then I may have to settle for something not as “clean” in formulation such as Clinique or neutrogena. Something has to give. I absolutely don’t want to settle for something that breaks me out.
I totally get you – finding and recommending good acne safe sunscreen has been one of my greatest challenges. I have mostly gotten around this personally by not wearing it daily and only putting it on when I am outside for a longer period of time, which so far as worked out ok for me. But now that I’m getting a little older, I’m like…. eggh… was that a good idea? But of course the last thing I want to do is get acne from some sunscreen. I still am having a lot of resistance to wearing it daily. Wrinkles or acne or going poor from buying josh rosebrook… what a choice!
I don’t honestly know the answer. I appreciated her article though because I think it is good to know that SPF *is* complicated and not always as easy as throwing some zinc together with this and that. But I think that if you found that what you’re doing is working really well compared to formulated tested products (and compared to not wearing anything), then I think it’s probably fine. She seemed to indicate that in the comments when people asked her this question.
Hi Tracy,
It is endearing you are worried about wrinkles…I’m 41 and still no wrinkles! 🙂
But when it comes to wrinkles and sun, I have found a supplement called astaxanthin, it is an antioxidant and scientifically proven to prevent wrinkles and skin (dna) damage when skin is exposed to the sun. I like that, it has many other benefits too, to the whole body!
But natural sun protection cream…I wish I’d found one good too! Even if someone recommends something, I may not find it in my country 🙁
This is not the answer you want to read, but my choice is to use “whatever” sun protection cream…I think it is anyway better than if the skin would burn in the sun! I live in northern Europe, I really only need sun protection a couple of months per year so I think my skin will not suffer so much because of that. And sometimes I use only normal moisturiser and then mineral make-up powder, I think that protects skin too? But it may not be enough for example when speding hours on the beach etc.
PS. Your dog is very cute!! 🙂
Hi TT – funny, I’ve actually been trying out astaxanthin for the last several weeks! I figure it might be the best compromise… a substitute for daily sunscreen, and then save the expensive stuff like Josh Rosebrook or the chemical-not-so-good stuff for the occasional beach trip or day spent outside. So there will probably be a blog post about that in the future. Do you take it regularly?
Hi Tracy,
Funny, what a coincidence! 🙂 No, I do not take it regularly, the only reason being that this is also quite an expensive product! I use it if I go to a “beach holiday” etc. where I am exposed to strong sunshine.
I have heard that you should start to take it at least 2 weeks before though.
Actually omega-3 is the only supplement I take regularly (probably already a decade non-stop!), I take Estroblock etc. depending on how my skin behaves 🙂 Would be indeed interesting if you write about astaxanthin!
I am in love with this very natural, very noncomedogenic sunscreen by the Ayurvedic skincare line Pratima. The ingredients are amazing and the texture is super fluid and light, with zero grease, unlike any natural/physical sunscreen products I’ve tried before. It’s kind of pricey ($36 for 2oz), but it is such a holy grail product that I will continue to buy it for as long as they make it.
The ingredient list:
+BRAHMI
+LECITHIN
+NEEM
+SHATAVARI
+XANTHAM GUM
+DISTILLED WATER
+GOTU KOLA (BRAHMI)
+LICORICE
+ROSE
+VITAMIN E
+ZINC OXIDE
https://www.pratimaskincare.com/neem-rose-face-sunscreen
Hi Mary — this looks great!! Thank you for sharing 🙂
Hi Tracy, what are you using now for daily skin care and supplements? I can’t remember if you’be done a recent blog post on what all you’re using now. Thanks!
Hi Merc, I use Estroblock, zinc, Thorne SAT daily, and I’ve been trying out a supplement called Astaxanthin for the last two months… blog post to come on that one. I take probiotics when I remember as well. Skin care, I moisturize twice a day with my DIY moisturizer (google Love Vitamin DIY moisturizer to find it).. I’ve also added a little glycerin to it
Hi Tracey!
Thank you for this comment Merc I have been reading posts and wondering myself. Just wanted to say thank you so much Tracey for being such an inspiration to those in the acne fighting world. I love your posts and your desire to help those who are in the same boat you were. Thanks so much! I know the brands that you recommend for Estroblock and probiotics as well as found the link to the Astaxanthin. I was wondering what brands you would recommend for zinc and the Throne SAT daily? Thank so much!! I have been using Manuka honey that you suggested and it’s been great thus far! Thank so much again!
Hi Char! Zinc picolinate is the kind of zinc…. genestra brand is a good one. And Thorne SAT is the brand
Hello Tracy,
This sunscreen seems really good : perfect INCI, zinc non-Nano. But yes, the price… ouch ! 🙁
I wanted to mention a product which is great too, and much more affordable : http://www.kimberlysayer.com/moisturizers.html
I tested it, I have no complain about the sun protection, the hydratation, no shine, no breackouts, no white cast.
The only problem to me, is that I have sensitiv skin on my cheeks, and it makes it liglhty turn red. Not a lot. But enough to make me stop using it (because I am paranoid with the redness. I use to have a lot, I succeed to treat them, and now I really really don’t want them back !)
I think maybe it is because of the lemon oil ? I don’t know…
But I still wanted to mentionned it to you and your readers, it could be a great products for those with no sensitiv skin (and even though : in the reviews, people with sensitiv skin are very happy with it, so who knows …?)
(sorry for my poor english, hope you understand me)
Hi Gaelle! Yes, that kimberley sayer one actually looks really good! Not sure why it’s causing sensitivity for you though, but it could definitely be the lemon oil… I don’t recommend lemon or lemon essential oil (or any citrus based oil) on the skin for daytime use as it can indeed make your skin more photosensitive… I don’t know why KS would include that in their sunscreen! Annoying!
Thank you for your answer !
May I ask you if you use something (other than just water) to clean your face at night, the days you’re wearing sunscreen ?
Nope, I still just rinse with water and apply moisturizer
Hi, I sort of stumbled upon your website, in my never ending search for products that actually don’t cause acne ?….? Well, I find your website fascinating and inspiring ?✨ I was curious as to your views on comedogenic causing ingredients? Don’t know if I misspelled this.. I find it extremely hard to find sunscreens or any product for that matter, that doesn’t have ingredients listed, that have this effect.. Because, e.g. I would be hesitant to buy this sunscreen from josh rosebrook, not just because of pricing $$!, but because of the (in my eyes) pore clogging oils.. Am I crazy for thinking this? Some people say all oils have this effect, and then I’ve heard some oils are “know” to not have this effect.. argan oil, hemp oil, to some degree jojoba oil.. but in this cream nr2 ingredient is shea butter, I also see almond oil, avocado oil.. I know that oil is needed to lock in moisture, but.. Sorry for this rant, I swear am not some internet troll.. full disclosure, I’m not for or against natural ingredients, since their chemical compound are what interest me, and since synthetic products, in my eyes, for the most part (all..) are filled with *shit ingredients that are bad for the skin ( irritant, pore clogging, sensitizing, allergenic.. acne what not) But natural ingredients can cause this too, because they are also made of chemical compounds.. yeah rant mode again ? Seriously not trolling here.. Thx for reading this if it does reach you ??
Hi Louise! haha don’t worry, you have perfectly valid concerns! I started writing you a reply, but it was getting too big and I realized it would make a good blog post instead. So check back to the site next week (likely Wednesday) to read it!
Hi! Thank you so much for replying ❤️?And thank you for not saying I’m but mildly crazy ? I’m a worrier btw, if that didn’t already read from my post ?? How exciting!!!!! Looking so forward to this ? Thank so much for doing this ???????
Hi Tracy,
I was wondering if you could look at these ingredients in the BeautyCounter face stick? The couple things I notice that may not be ideal would be the coconut oil, candelilla wax, and some of the acids/laurates. What do you think?
Zinc Oxide, Inactive Ingredients: Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Beeswax, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter*, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Carthamus Tinctorius (Safflower) Seed Oil, Cetearyl Nonanoate, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Oil*, Citrus Grandis (Grapefruit) Peel Oil, Citrus Nobilis (Mandarian Orange) Peel Oil, Coco-Caprylate, Coco-Caprylate/Caprate Coconut Alkanes, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil*, Cucurbita Pepo (Pumpkin) Seed Oil*, Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla) Wax, Euterpe Oleracea (Acai) Fruit Oil*, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Isostearic Acid, Lauryl Laurate, Lecithin, Mica, Polyglyceryl-3 Polyricinoleate, Polyhydroxystearic Acid, Punica Granatum (Pomegranate) Seed Oil*, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract, Silica, Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter*, Tocopherol, Vanilla Planifolia (Vanilla) Fruit. *Organic
Hi Caitlin, it looks pretty decent, most of the concerning ingredients aren’t near the top. Although I question their use of citrus based oils in it, as these can make you skin more sun sensitive… so I don’t know about it
One more thing…do you still recommend the DeVita Solar Protective Moisturizer SPF 30? Is this one you have ever used?
Here are the ingredients:
Active Ingredient: Zinc oxide: 19% Inactive Ingredients: Aloe barbadensis* (aloe vera gel), purified water (aqua), capric/caprylic triglycerides (derived from coconut oil), glycerin (vegetable), hyaluronic acid (vegan source), glyceryl stearate SE (derived from vegetable oil), stearic acid, lecithin phospholipid, tocopherol (vitamin E), allantoin, vitis vinifera (grape) seed extract.Ingredient labeling adheres to international INCI standards.*Certified Organic
This one looks quite good.. although glyceryl stearate SE is supposed to be a bit comedogenic, but it’s not like it’s high in the ingredient list, so I don’t know. I’d probably be willing to give this one a try
Hi Tracy! Thanks for the post 🙂 Do you use sunscreen while you do the caveman regimen? Do you wash it off?? If so, how do you wash it off without irritating your skin?
Thanks!
I think someone started to mention this already, but I’m curious about your thoughts on some of those ingredients. I’ve seen a couple other sources (including cosDNA) that list several of those as being bad for acne prone skin: Evening Primrose Oil, Jojoba Oil, Almond Oil, Grape Seed Oil, Sesame Oil, Avocado Oil, Olive Oil, and Chamomile. There are other products I’ve avoided buying because they have those ingredients. Is that overly cautious/unnecessary?
Hi Stephanie! None of them have high comedogenic ratings, 0 – 2 on the scale is considered to be pretty safe. Also, when they are in small amounts mixed into a formula like this, they often work very differently than if you were to, say, use olive oil straight (like if an oil is comedogenic normally, if it’s in such a tiny amount way down the ingredients list, it’s going to be very different). For example, you’d be very surprised at the texture of this sunscreen.. it doesn’t actually feel anything like an oil! You’d think it would feel heavy and greasy, but it’s not the case at all, it’s very light
I am one the many who were sad to see that 100% Pure discontinued the Argan Oil Hydration SPF 30. I have managed to really stretch out the last bit of it that I have left these past few months but now I’m really desperate to find something to replace it. Did you happen to see the new 100% Pure Tomato Lycopene SPF 20 Moisturizer? I just came across it today. The one thing that popped out at me in the ingredients list was the coconut oil. My skin breaks out horribly with coconut oil so I don’t know if this would work for me but maybe it would work for others?
Active Ingredient: Zinc Oxide 5%, Titanium Dioxide 4%
Other Ingredients: Aloe Barbadensis Leaf (Aloe Vera Gel) Juice, Annatto Extract, Aqua (Deioinized Water), Camelia Sinensis (Green Tea) Leaf Extract, Citric Acid, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Daucus Carota Sativa (Carrot) Extract, Glycerin, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Oil, Hippophae Rhamnoides (Sea Buckthorn) Fruit Oil, Lecithin, Leuconostoc/Radish Root Ferment Filtrate, Lonicera Caprifolium (Honeysuckle) Extract, Lonicera Japonica (Honeysuckle) Extract, Lycopene (Tomato) Extract, Niacinamide, Resveratrol, Solanum Lycopersicum (Tomato) Seed Oil, Sorbitan Oleate, Soy Isoflavones, Squalane, Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Butter, Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E), Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Extract, Xanthan Gum
Hi Charity — no I hadn’t seen it. It’s hard to say, because often things that may be comedogenic on their own aren’t so much when in small amounts in a formula like this … but… it is right at the top of the list. If comedogenic ingredients are way down on the list, then it’s much more likely it’s not going to be a big issue. I’d probably pass on this, especially if you already know your skin breaks out from coconut oil
Thank you! 🙂
Hi! I found a pretty solid mineral sunscreen with very few ingredients (I haven’t tried it yet!)
AKT Elemental SunBalm. It’s $48. I tried it on my hand, and there was zero white residue:
Ingredients: Zinc Oxide (20%), **Vitis vinifera *(grapeseed) oil, *Prunus cerasus (cherry kernel) oil, *Limnanthes alba (meadowfoam) oil, non-nano (non-coated) zinc, *cera alba (beeswax), Guar gum, *oxides gold
*Organic Agriculture **Wildcrafted
https://akttherapy.com/products/elemental-sun-balm-30ml
Not sure about the comedogenic values of these, but for me no coconut oil or Shea butter means it’s a-okay!
Looks like mostly a go — some people do have trouble with beeswax though :/
Arg!!! So sad! Some day. Some day someone will make a good sunscreen that doesn’t have a thousand ingredients, or coconut oil, beeswax or anything that makes anyone breakout. The endless search continues!
Hi Tracy! The red raspberry seed oil that you recommend from the company Berry Beautiful also has a natural sunscreen serum made from the raspberry oil, zinc oxide and a couple other non toxic ingredients! It is also significantly lower in price. Have you checked it out? Just wondering what your thoughts are on it. I am currently looking for a good natural sunscreen but just can’t bring myself to spend $85 on the Josh Rosebrook one. Would really appreciate your thoughts! Thanks!