acne safe sunscreen

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.

rock climbing
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!