Sun Bum was founded in 2010 and offers vegan, cruelty-free products that support the beach lifestyle. I love their packaging, too—it looks just like the bottle has been carved out of a surfboard. I’ve always been curious about their sunscreens, so I was pleased to see that the Four Seasons resort in Maui offered complimentary “reef-friendly” Sun Bum SPF 15, 30, and 50 sunscreen to their guests. (As you might have guessed, I only hit up the SPF 50 throughout my stay.) Later,…

I’ve definitely been on a zinc oxide sunscreen kick lately. It’s the best all-in-one sunscreen filter available in the U.S., and it’s reef-safe. When I first came across Coppertone Pure & Simple Sunscreen SPF 50 For Face in CVS, the high zinc oxide percentage caught my eye: a whopping 24.08% (the FDA allows up to 25 percent in sunscreens). Plus, it was labeled specifically for facial use, and I rarely see that in a drugstore. Usually you only see general-purpose sunscreens…

I’m always on the hunt for a good zinc-based sunscreen, since physical sunscreens tend to be gentler on sensitive skin, and zinc oxide is the only FDA-approved sunscreen filter in the U.S. that protects against UVA1, UVA 2, and UVB rays—the full spectrum! Plus, it’s a reef-safe sunscreen filter, which is a nice bonus. So why doesn’t everyone use zinc oxide sunscreen? Most of the time, zinc oxide-based sunscreens are notorious for producing a ghostly, chalky effect, which makes…