★★★★★ 3
Mineral sunscreen stick review - poor at blending
I’m writing a review for this product as well as a number of other mineral sunscreen sticks (MSS) after testing a bunch of them—scroll down to point #6 below if you want to know which one I thought was the best. I’ve placed this exact review on every single other MSS I used. I specifically elected to go with mineral-based sunscreens—lots of talk on the environmental effects of the other sunscreens (not sure how much of this is actually true, but I’m willing to avoid the non-mineral sunscreens given the minimal investment on my part). Here are a few important points about this review:
1. No one paid me to write this review. I put down my own $140 to get all 13 of these MSSs. I just wanted to find the best one by limiting as much bias as possible. Yes, my wife definitely gave me the you’re-crazy-but-I-guess-I’m-stuck-now look.
2. Quick sunscreen tutorial. Most dermatologists say we should try to get an SPF of 30+. Each 1% of zinc counts for 1.6 SPF, so to hit SPF 30, your zinc has to be 18.75%+. Each 1% of titanium counts for 2.6 SPF, so a combination of zinc and titanium could get you to SPF 30 as well. Titanium apparently isn’t good enough to block UV-A (cancer causing and photo-aging) light on its own, so you must add zinc to it. I calculated the SPF based on the stated zinc and titanium percentages on the label and these calculations were usually different from the quoted SPFs (they might be adding more SPFs from other ingredients, but I can’t say for sure). Nine of the 13 MSSs had calculated SPFs 30+. Only 4 of the 13 had a calculated SPF greater than or equal to the label SPF.
3. Because I can’t judge cancer prevention or aging blockade in the short term, avoiding burns and eye irritation are the most important immediately observable elements of an MSS. Every MSS I tested did equally well in burn avoidance and eye irritation avoidance.
4. It should be noted that I’m not Caucasian, I’m South Asian. If you don’t know what that is exactly, Wikipedia it or watch some Russell Peters standup comedy (his old stuff, not his new stuff). My skin color is probably similar to that of Benjamin Bratt (mind you, we’re talking about his skin color only… I’m not even in the same galaxy of overall looks as he is, much to my wife’s chagrin). The ability of a white-colored MSS to blend is crucial for me. And yes, even brown people like me need sunscreen. It would absolutely suck for me as a South Asian to have a higher risk of heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension, skillfully dodge those bullets with diet and exercise and luck, only to get taken out by skin cancer.
5. I like most scents. It seems like so many things are going unscented now—an MSS that is truly unscented is okay, but a lot of things labeled “unscented,” actually have an odd, unpleasant (sort of like bad oatmeal) smell to them. The scent score is logged as a “3” if it’s truly unscented, a “5” if it has a great scent, and a “1” if it smells bad.
6. Here’s the final conclusion. Only 3 of the 13 MSSs I tested had the following combination of characteristics: calculated SPF 30+, smell score 3+, and blend score 4+. These top three were: Neutrogena Sheer Zinc, Aveeno Positively Mineral, and Blue Lizard. When you factor in cost, it’s a no-brainer—Neutrogena and Aveeno were only half the cost of Blue Lizard. Therefore, my two winners (tied for first place) are Neutrogena Sheer Zinc and Aveeno Positively Mineral. Honorable mention for Blue Lizard—twice as expensive as the others, but might be slightly easier to maneuver on your face given the smaller size stick (this is a stretch compliment for Blue Lizard—I think NSZ and APM are just better).
Hope this helps you select your next mineral sunscreen stick!
A^2
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Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2020
