The Best Mineral Sunscreen That Keeps Me From Getting Sunburned
There are packers who are planners and then there’s me: the person who throws everything together in a suitcase hours before I have to leave for the airport. It’s not that I’m disorganized. Rather, because I’m often traveling for work, I’ve got my pack-and-dash routine down to a science. But recently, I found myself in unfamiliar territory: packing for an entire week in Maui with four of my best friends and my boyfriend.
To put it in better perspective: I, like, too many other American women, have never really taken advantage of my vacation days. I’ll use one sparingly here or there or put them toward flying back home for weddings, graduations, and holidays. Oh, and the last time I’d worn a swimsuit? I think it’d been a solid four years. Not having any of the classic “vacation” stuff I needed, I slowly checked off a shopping list. But in the days leading up to my departure, I found myself worrying about what some might think of as an afterthought: sunscreen.
If you missed the news earlier this summer, Hawaii lawmakers voted to pass a ban on sunscreens that contain the ingredients oxybenzone and octinoxate due to the damage they inflict on coral reefs. The ban doesn’t officially go into effect until 2021, but after editing a piece on the issue, I didn’t want to go to Maui with sunscreen that wasn’t eco-conscious. And when you start doing your research, you realize these ingredients are in a lot of common sunscreens—more than 3,500 of them to be exact. So I did as any good beauty editor would do and ransacked Glamour‘s beauty closet for the best mineral sunscreens (which include reef-safe ingredients that physically block UVA and UVB rays), checked a bag, and brought them all.
People rave about mineral sunscreen. Plus, after making up for years of tanning, I now know my shit about sun care and I’m stickler for the rules: put it everywhere (that includes armpits, under straps and sleeves that might possibly move, the back of your neck, the tops of your ears, and your hair part); re-apply like clockwork (no sunscreen keeps its efficacy all day, so derms recommend re-applying every two hours or immediately after swimming or sweating); and use at least a shot-glass worth of sunscreen whenever I put it on. I figured I was covered.
Now picture me on the first day of vacation, living my best life in a pool float, sipping a local craft beer, and having deep discussions about Garrett Yrigoyen with my friends. All day long I was religiously slathering myself in a fairly expensive, high-end brand’s mineral sunscreen. By the time we went in for dinner, I was red—fried! A lobster! WTF!
But it wasn’t just me—the rest of the crew, too, who are all as pale and type-A as me about sunscreen were also pink. For two more days, we kept cycling through batches of sunscreens that couldn’t hold up to their claims. And lots of aloe. So much aloe.
Then, just as I was about to swear mineral sunscreen off as a con, I pulled Alba Botanica’s Sport Mineral Sunscreen out of my bag. It checked every requirement of what I needed: an SPF higher than 30 (which is the minimum recommendation of derms), an easy-to-rub-in formula that doesn’t feel sticky or tacky, and—the most important criterion—an ability to actually keep me from getting sunburned.
The more I used it, the more I loved it. Not only was it keeping me from crying in pain every night before bed, the formula is fragrance-free, cruelty-free, and paraben-free. It held up through a hike in the rainforest, a submarine ride, a luau, and a day in the ocean. If I had to say a downside, it’s got somewhat of a chalky cast when you first rub it in. So if your skin tone is anything deeper than a light-to-medium beige, it might not be a great fit. (Which in that case, I’ve heard excellent things about this brand). That said, it blends in pretty quickly.
I ended up bringing a billion things home from Maui: a shot glass, a T-shirt from the Lana’i Cat Sanctuary (yes, the same place from the viral video where you can play with 500 cats—it’s everything), an iPhone with no more photo storage, but I’ve got to say, this might be the best. At least right behind the photos of the cats.
Alba Botanica Sport Mineral Sunscreen SPF 45, $12, target.com
Related Stories:
–13 Sunscreens That Don’t Suck (We Know Because We Tested Hundreds)
–Hawaii’s Sunscreen Ban Doesn’t Hit Until 2021, but the Reason for It Is Scary
–Sneaky Skin Cancer Risks to Know Now