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I doubt that Ilia—the collector of many
Allure
Best of Beauty
and
Readers’ Choice Awards
—needs an introduction. A quick summary for those unfamiliar: The
“clean beauty”
brand has built its reputation on effortless,
multitasking
makeup for people who want to look like themselves (just slightly more hydrated, even-toned, and well-rested). Case in point: Ilia's beloved
Super Serum Skin Tint SPF 40
, which one
Allure
editor once described as making her look like she “drinks a gallon of water a day.”
So it feels less like a pivot and more like an inevitability that Ilia is finally coming out with its first standalone sunscreen, the Sun Serum Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50. While some might still think of
Ilia
as a makeup brand first, loyalists have long seen it as skin-care-first. (Not exactly news if you’ve been following our Best of Beauty Awards, where we’ve already crowned skin-care standouts like the
Bright Start Retinol Alternative Eye Cream
and
Lip Wrap Reviving Balm
.) If anything, this just makes it official.
Ilia
Sun Serum Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50
$40
Ilia
$40
Sephora
First things first, this is a
mineral sunscreen
, featuring 10.5% zinc oxide—a notoriously tricky ingredient to make feel enjoyable to wear. And, at SPF 50, the challenge only gets steeper. (Higher protection typically means more zinc oxide, which often translates to thicker, chalkier formulas—and that heavy white cast no matter how hard you try to blend it out.) “The core challenge is that zinc oxide is a dense, white inorganic pigment that resists elegant aesthetics,” says
Sherry Backman
, a cosmetic chemist based in Brattleboro, Vermont. “To achieve a serum texture, formulators need to control particle size, dispersion, and the chemistry of the surrounding system,
especially pH
.”
The pH of a sunscreen might sound technical, but it comes down to balance. Zinc oxide works best when the formula sits in a middle, neutral range. “Too acidic or too basic, and you risk destabilizing the zinc oxide, which can impact everything from texture to SPF performance,” she says.
Courtesy of Ilia
All of which is to say, the texture is what got me first, a signal that the pH is where it should be. And I’m not the only one who noticed. “I am a longtime user of mineral sunscreen, and I have never experienced anything like this,” says Shanna Shipin, senior commerce director. “This is such an elegant formula that is so lightweight, it performs like a chemical sunscreen—I can hardly believe that there are mineral blockers in it.”
Sun Serum is fluid and serum-y, though not quite as runny as the Skin Tint Ilia fans know well. It glides on and blends without resistance—blindfold me, and I’d never guess it was sunscreen.
Close up video applying the Ilia Sun Serum Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50
Christa Joanna Lee
On the skin-care front, Ilia focuses on lightweight but deep hydration.
Hyaluronic acid
(seven molecular weights, to be exact) is doing the bulk of the heavy lifting here—Backman notes it’s “primarily for hydration, but secondarily, it improves skin smoothness, film support and texture enhancement,” helping counter that dry feel mineral sunscreens can leave behind. The formula’s sugars add another layer by boosting moisture and supporting the
skin barrier
, while coneflower (echinacea) and arctic root extracts help regulate oil, so you’re not trading dryness for midday shine.
Importantly, none of this seems to compromise the formula’s stability. Because yes, adding humectants and plant extracts can interfere with zinc oxide if you’re not careful. “They can, especially if they shift pH or introduce electrolytes that destabilize the dispersion,” Backman says. “Well-formulated systems are structured to keep zinc oxide evenly distributed and stable.”
This, it seems, is one of those formulas that actually gets that mix right—at least from where I’m sitting. On my
dry
,
sensitive skin
, it felt impressively hydrating. It melted in seamlessly without catching on the flaky spots around my cheeks and nose, leaving everything looking more plump than parched. In this unpredictable transitional weather we’re experiencing on the East Coast right now, that feels like a minor miracle.
Lee applying the Ilia Sun Serum Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50
Christa Joanna Lee
Allure
contributing writer Christa Joanna Lee before applying the Ilia Sun Serum Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50
Christa Joanna Lee
Lee after applying the Ilia Sun Serum Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50
Christa Joanna Lee
Then there’s the tint—available in two flexible shades, light-medium and medium-deep—which helps counteract the inevitable white cast. As Backman explains, “tinted skin-care products incorporate white, yellow, red, and black pigments blended in various ratios to achieve shades compatible with the lightest to darkest skin tones.” Those pigments (here, in the form of iron oxides) “help offset zinc oxide’s naturally chalky white base, so the formula blends in more seamlessly with skin,” she says.
Even th

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Source: https://www.allure.com/story/ilia-sun-serum-mineral-sunscreen-review