5 Organic Sunscreens Made With Clean & Gentle Ingredients
Any protection is better than no protection at all: A maxim that applies to many scenarios, but today we’re talking about going out in the sun. (Or going out on a cloudy day, or not even going outside at all, because you need to be wearing sunscreen then, too. Sorry!) But if you’re especially concerned about using organic skin care products, then you can, in fact, afford to be a little more discerning. The best organic sunscreens are made with mostly organic, plant-derived ingredients, and they’re free of common chemical additives that can trigger reactions in sensitive skin types. Most importantly, they provide an SPF of at least 30.
Full disclosure: it’s pretty hard to find sunscreens that are certified organic by third-party or governmental agencies that monitor “organic” product labelling, like NATRUE, NSF, and the USDA — though they do exist, and you'll find a few of them below. Instead, you’re more likely to find sunscreens that contain organic ingredients, even if the product itself may not bear the official seal of a certification agency. But across the board, all of the best natural sunscreens featured here are formulated with what most people consider to be "clean" ingredients, and leave out the questionable chemicals and common potential irritants.
Bottom line? These five all natural sunscreens are among the best your skin can get. So you can feel extra safe when you put them on every day, several times per day, as I know you are definitely doing.
Editor's note: Interested in more organic beauty? You can find more of the best organic skin care products here.
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01Best For Babies & Kids
Badger is among the few sunscreen brands that boasts an organic certification from a third-party agency; in this case, that’s a stamp of approval from NSF/ANSI 305, which means it contains at least 70% certified organic ingredients, plus a certification from the same agency that it’s a non-GMO product. So you can’t go wrong with any of Badger’s cult-favorite sunscreens, but their baby sunscreen is one of their most popular. This pediatrician-approved formula contains 98% organic ingredients, like sunflower seed oil, calendula extract, beeswax, and soothing zinc oxide for sun protection. It’s gentle enough for babies, of course, but it’s also a good choice for you, a non-baby, if you have extra-sensitive skin.
02Best Stick
Babo Botanicals is another sunscreen brand with legit credentials, including certifications from NSF and B Corporation, so it should be a go-to when you’re shopping for “clean” products. But I like this sunscreen stick in particular, which makes the whole application process a lot less messy/annoying. Its SPF 50 is higher than usual, too. And since the simple, 70+% organic formula is technically formulated for babies, it’s another safe choice for people with sensitive or reactive skin.
03Best Steal
Juice Beauty’s luxury skin care products tend to ring up at around $30 to $70+, so this $13 sunscreen is a surprise. (The only kind of surprise I ever want.) This is another instance of a product that’s “formulated with organic ingredients” without an official certification, though lots of those ingredients are grown on the brand’s own, organic farm. It's packed with tons of good-for-skin ingredients (a benefit of buying sunscreen from a skin care brand), like jojoba, aloe, and antioxidants, plus 20% zinc oxide for sun protection.
04Best Packaging
This Raw Elements sunscreen has lots of certifications under its belt, including seals from EWG and Non-GMO Project. Even more impressive, six of the formula’s 10 ingredients (other than 23% zinc oxide) are certified organic by the USDA — a notoriously tough certification for a cosmetic product to land. Beyond that, reviewers love this sunscreen for its pleasantly nutty scent, ample sun protection, non-irritating formula, and refreshingly simple ingredients that you probably already have in your kitchen (green tea, black tea, coffee, hemp). I like it for its handy, plastic-free tin packaging, too, which you can reuse to store your earrings/pills/paper clips when you’ve used up all the product.
05For More SPF
This Sky Organics mineral sunscreen packs an SPF 50 like the Babo Botanicals sunscreen, but this big, 6-ounce tube is more conducive to applying it all over your body. The gentle, non-greasy formula contains 89% organic ingredients, certified by NSF. The consistency is on the thicker side, so you might want to thin it out with your favorite lotion or oil.
