No matter how well you formulate a mineral sunscreen, it’s bound to leave some sort of white cast on your skin. In my experience, the only remedy for this problem is to (a) own the ghostly look with confidence; (b) opt for a chemical sunscreen; or (c) cover it up with makeup or, better yet, for those of us who don’t know how to use makeup…try out a tinted mineral sunscreen! Tinted sunscreens usually contain iron oxides to help counteract the ghostliness of zinc oxide. So you end up using oxides to fix problems caused by other oxides. Lately, I’ve been on a tinted sunscreen kick, and I’ve been looking for products that contain a high percentage of zinc oxide, since zinc oxide offers UVA protection. If you see a tinted sunscreen that only contains titanium dioxide as the active ingredient, then it doesn’t offer any UVA protection, only UVB protection. Ideally, you want both or just zinc oxides, which protects against UVA and UVB. Neutrogena Mineral UV Tint Sunscreen SPF 30 is a solid option from a big brand that I trust, and I love how easily it blends into my skin. It’s definitely pricier than other drugstore sunscreens, but it’s still more affordable than the competition (e.g., ones you’d find in Sephora) without sacrificing on quality in any noticeable way.

Neutrogena Mineral UV Tint Sunscreen SPF 30 ingredients

Active ingredients: titanium dioxide (3.2%), zinc oxide (21.6%)

Inactive ingredients: water, isohexadecane, dicaprylyl carbonate, dimethicone, isopropyl palmitate, isononyl isononanoate, cetyl peg/ppg-10/1 dimethicone, c12-15 alkyl benzoate, sodium chloride, polyhydroxystearic acid, tocopheryl acetate, triethoxycaprylylsilane, sorbitan sesquioleate, phenoxyethanol, ethylhexylglycerin, dimethiconol, aluminum hydroxide, dimethicone crosspolymer, stearic acid, xanthan gum, iron oxides

My Dad the Chemist’s review of Neutrogena Mineral UV Tint Sunscreen SPF 30

Dear Emily, tinted sunscreen is easy to be formulated using minerals and iron oxides like the one you mentioned below. Iron oxide pigments are derived from various forms of iron oxides, such as hematite (red), goethite (yellow), and magnetite (black).

This formula looks good, however, the smoothness spreadability need to be dependent of dispersion of pigments and minerals in the solvents selected in the formulation. If it’s easy to spread out with smooth even tint, then it’s a great formula.

Love, Dad

Neutrogena Mineral UV Tint Sunscreen SPF 30 review

I love a good tinted sunscreen, and Neutrogena Mineral UV Tint Sunscreen SPF 30 is a joy to use. It calls itself a “face liquid,” which hints at the fact that it does tend to be on the watery side, so definitely shake it up before squeezing it out. It also comes in a small bottle so you’ll have to restock pretty often if you use it every day. However, I think it’s a good value and comes out feeling similar to more high-end tinted moisturizers you would get at ULTA or Sephora.

I was curious to find out if tinted sunscreens were typically hard to formulate. My dad says that they are easy to formulate them using iron oxides. The tricky part, perhaps, is to ensure that the formula is able to disperse the pigments and minerals (including the active ingredients, titanium dioxide and zinc oxide) uniformly without separation. It also needs to be smooth and spreadable while maintaining an even tint. I think this product meets all those criteria, so I’d recommend giving it a try. It seems to be a good formula and is a breeze to apply. Even though it claims it is water resistant up to 80 minutes (the maximum allowed claim), I’ve noticed that the tint does rub off a bit if you end up sweating and then wiping your face, so be wary of that. I don’t use it on hot or sweaty days, or days when I’m working out, just because I don’t want to stain any of my clothing.

It’s almost like a foundation or BB cream that helps smooth out imperfections on your face, and it also helps cover up large pores. And it’s fragrance-free. The only downside is that it only comes in four shades, so you may not be able to find an exact match. I opted for the light tint, which came out pretty close to sheer on my face, but still lightened it a bit, because I think my skin tone is a bit darker than “light” but probably not quite dark enough for “medium.” It also comes in medium, medium deep, and deep tones.

Another downside is that it leaves a pretty dewy finish, so it may feel a bit too heavy for those with oily skin, like me. I found that since it felt a bit oily, I instinctively wanted to apply less of it to my face, but that unfortunately means that you’re probably applying a thick enough layer to get the full SPF 30 protection that’s promised on the label. If you want to be on the safe side, I’d suggest using another non-tinted sunscreen as the base layer and then applying this tinted sunscreen on top to help allay any white cast from the first layer of sunscreen you applied.

Neutrogena Mineral UV Tint Sunscreen SPF 30 is a great addition to my sunscreen collection, and I’ll be sure to reach for it whenever I feel like covering up some imperfections on my face. It’s a lazy girl’s way to do makeup without doing makeup (none of that “no makeup makeup” nonsense). Plus it offers some bonus SPF protection, which is nice! I’d just prefer to use it in the winter rather than in the summer, since I sweat easily and don’t want to stain any of my clothing with iron oxides.

Related reading

• Australian Gold Tinted Face Sunscreen Review
• EltaMD vs. CoTZ: Tinted physical sunscreen showdown
• Tinted sunscreen guide: A brief exploration of tinted ingredients
• CoTZ Plus SPF 58 Mineral Sunscreen Review