Is It Even Possible to Make a Mineral Sunscreen With No White Cast?
As a darker-skinned Black woman, there’s nothing more frustrating than completing your skin-care routine and heading into the last and most important step, sunscreen, just to look in the mirror and immediately be met by a jump scare because of a hideous white cast. It’s an industrywide problem. Although it’s possible for white and gray casts to show up on skin when using chemical sunscreens, it’s more common to see the ghostly finish when using a mineral sunscreen. The buzzy marketing words no white cast have rung false plenty of times from brands. When it comes to mineral sunscreens, it’s almost impossible to create a product that doesn’t have a cast.
Why does white cast even happen in the year 2025?
Zinc oxide and titanium dioxide are the main ingredients that cause a cast, and a true mineral sunscreen cannot be formulated without both. “They are inorganic mineral UV filters that provide UV protection by absorbing UV rays and converting them to heat as well as a tiny amount of reflection. That reflection causes the white cast,” says cosmetic scientist Julian Sass.
Aesthetician and Dieux co-founder Charlotte Palermino adds that because they are white powders, “you can minimize cast, but if you are getting 100 percent of the sun protection from these filters, it’s impossible to be sheer.”
Is there a good mineral sunscreen without white cast?
Our senior shopping editor, Bianca Nieves, has eczema-prone skin, and her skin flares up when it’s met with any chemical sunscreen, so she is always looking for a good mineral sunscreen without white cast. Sass swears by finding chemical sunscreens with European, East Asian, and Australian formulations because the UV filters don’t have sensitivity issues, but they can be really hard to find in the U.S. (And despite what you see on Instagram, not everyone is having a Euro summer and can make a pharmacy pit stop.)
My suggestion is to find a mineral sunscreen that’s tinted. “If you must use mineral sunscreen, I recommend looking for tinted options that have a tint that can match your skin tone but don’t necessarily provide coverage. However, many brands tend to develop tinted mineral sunscreens that are so tinted that they end up like foundation and develop a ton of shades, which isn’t ideal for everyday wear,” Sass says.
You could also call your congressperson, which is what Palermino suggests. Let them know it’s time for the FDA to change the approval process for new chemical filters (the U.S. hasn’t gotten a new UV filter in sunscreen since 1999). But in the meantime, until the U.S. catches up, there needs to be some type of solution.
What are some of your favorite tinted-mineral-sunscreen options?
I’m admittedly not a fan of tinted sunscreens. I’d rather wear sunscreen as a primer and apply makeup or skin tint if I want some color on my skin. But there are a few we’ve tried that we’re fans of, and the shades vary.
Palermino says, “It’s not so much science but color theory. The moment you [add a tint], you’re back in color theory. What blends for me won’t blend for you — unless we are a similar skin tone.” Shade-matching for tinted sunscreens can be as complicated as matching for a foundation.
EltaMD UV Clear Broad-Spectrum SPF 46 - Deep Tinted
Are there any non-tinted mineral sunscreens without a white cast?
As already mentioned, it’s basically impossible. We’ve tried quite a few sunscreens, and most of the non-white-cast finishes have been chemical sunscreens, but the one mineral sunscreen that has come closest to having little to no cast is Good Weather Skin’s sunscreen. I tried it on my darker complexion, and it was the first time I used a non-tinted mineral formula and felt like it was almost sheer.
Good Weather Skin the One Daily Sun Cream SPF 30 Mineral Sunscreen
Sass suggests that brands completely stop using “no white cast” language in marketing: “Stop saying that your mineral sunscreen has no white cast, is invisible, or any iteration of that. Full stop. It’s impossible. Once you get to around an SPF 30 and higher, it’s impossible for mineral sunscreens to be invisible on all skin tones without some kind of tint.” Palermino and her co-founder, clinical cosmetic chemist Joyce de Lemos, have been working hard at creating a sunscreen for Dieux and were in an endless cycle of trying on sunscreen submissions from contract manufacturers that claimed to leave no white cast. “Sunscreen requires a lot of testing, such as testing for SPF value, broad-spectrum coverage, water resistance, among others. I think that if a brand is formulating a mineral sunscreen, they need to understand that a ‘no white cast’ claim is incredibly risky. While you can swatch the sunscreen on people with different skin tones, there’s still a lot of variability that can happen. How much product was and will be applied? Where is it being applied? What are their daily activities like?” de Lemos says.
Is there ever a good use for a cast?
Yes. There are some cases in which brands see it as helpful. Thinksun knows its formulas have a white cast, and although it’s not intentional, the company sees it as beneficial for parents with small children. “Parents want to know that their child is protected and that no spots have been missed. Unlike adults, the children are unaware of the slight visibility of the sunscreen, and this works out well for both child and parent,” the brand tells us. As for us adults, we’d prefer a sheer finish, even a glowy one.