Stay In The Know
Select the newsletters you’d like to receive. Then, add your email to sign up.
By submitting your information you agree to the
Terms & Conditions
and
Privacy Policy
and are aged 16 or over.
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Want to add more newsletters?
An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Jump to category:
What Causes Mineral Sunscreen Texture and Tone?
Why Have Mineral Sunscreens Gotten Better?
Is There a Mineral Sunscreen For Every Skin Tone?
The Best New Mineral Sunscreens of 2026
Why Trust Marie Claire
Meet the Experts
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Share this article
Join the conversation
Follow us
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Subscribe to our newsletter
I’ve been wearing
mineral sunscreen
for over 20 years, and spent roughly the first 18 of those years defending the choice. Or, perhaps more accurately,
explaining
it: When inquiring minds would ask how I, a woman of color, could subject myself to such greasepaint every day, I would point out how the formulations were less likely to
break me out
—and how I’d top said sunscreen with an equally opaque layer of
foundation
anyway. Yet I could never exactly fight against the claims leveled against the category. Because yeah, mineral sunscreens kind of felt, and looked, like you spackled yourself with a layer of white plaster.
But in the 2020s, there’s been a noticeable and remarkable shift within the category. While I can’t pinpoint exactly when I started to see the difference, I distinctly remember applying
Kinship’s Self-Reflect Zinc Oxide Sunscreen
for the first time and the blurred, glowy finish feeling downright revelatory; ditto
Supergoop!’s Mineral Mattescreen
. In the years since, the advancements have come at a rapid clip—and in 2026, it feels as though we can’t go a week without a buzzy
new suncare label
dropping a near-transparent mineral sunscreen, or a storied brand releasing a silky new, cast-free
SPF serum
loaded with zinc and titanium dioxide.
Which begs the question: How did we get here, and why did it take so long for mineral sunscreens to finally get good?
Latest Videos From
Why Does Mineral Sunscreens Look and Feel Like That?
The dreaded white cast associated with mineral sunscreen “isn’t just a bad formulation choice—it’s a byproduct of physics,” explains
Shuting Hu
, PhD, a cosmetic chemist, skin biologist, and the founder of Acaderma. “Mineral filters like zinc oxide and titanium dioxide are large, inorganic particles that function as semiconductors.” While chemical filters — think avobenzone, homosalate, or octisalate—primarily absorb the rays and convert them into heat, mineral filters work, in part, by absorbing and then scattering and reflecting those rays. “These minerals have a high refractive index, meaning they are exceptionally good at bending and reflecting light,” says Hu. “Unfortunately, they don't just reflect invisible UV rays. They reflect visible light, too, which our eyes perceive as white or ‘ashy.’” (To note: Zinc oxide and titanium dioxide are the only mineral
SPF filters approved in the U.S.
)
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Unsurprisingly, the more protection a mineral sunscreen offers, the more likely it is to leave you with that famous ghostly pallor. “To achieve a high SPF, like 50+, a formulator often needs a high ‘pigment load,’ sometimes 20 percent or more,” says Hu. “At these concentrations, the particles are so densely packed that they inevitably create a visible film.”
The large size of the particles—and the amount needed for adequate protection—is also why so many mineral formulations tend not to just look like masks, but feel like them, too. “These ingredients are white powders, and you can't dissolve them in anything,” explains cosmetic scientist
Julian Sass
, PhD. “You have to basically suspend them in the formula. And when you are suspending these ingredients in the formula, it tends to be very thick and quite matte.” This makes it “difficult, [but] not impossible, to make pleasant-feeling mineral sunscreen,” he says.
So, Why Have Mineral Sunscreens Suddenly Gotten So Much Better?
One needs only to take a glance at
2025’s impressive lineup of SPF rookies
— which included mineral offerings by the likes of Ultra Violette,
Peach & Lily
,
Beauty of Joseon
, and Good Weather Skin—to see that today’s mineral sunscreens have undergone a major glow-up. “Historically, mineral formulas were thicker and left a white cast, but that has changed significantly,” says board-certified dermatologist
Sonia Badreshia-Bansal, MD
. “Newer formulations are far more elegant, blendable, and wearable, which has helped close the gap between protection and cosmetic acceptability.”
Stay In The Know
Get exclusive access to fashion and beauty trends, hot-off-the-press celebrity news, and more.
So what took them so long? “It’s cost and market innovation at the end of the day,” says Sass. “Yes, we have all this science that’s

Book Your Appointment

Ready to transform your skin? Visit Candy Beauty Skin Care at 32 Pell St, Chinatown, NYC.

Call (646) 691-8273 or book online at candybeauty.store.

Our expert estheticians are ready to create your personalized treatment plan.

Source: https://www.marieclaire.com/beauty/skincare/best-mineral-sunscreen-no-white-cast/