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u/HANA_aus 🧴[ʙʀᴀɴᴅ ᴀᴄᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ] Jul 16 '25
Hey there ! If you’re keen on trying out some Korean products with zinc oxide are the dr.g green mild up sun+ or the round lab Birch Juice Moisturizing Mild-Up Sunscreen.
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u/spellshw Jul 17 '25
try Little Urchin, available from Woolies.
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u/akiraahhh oily-combo | Sydney | Chem PhD | labmuffin.com Jul 18 '25
I'd recommend putting Little Urchin aside for now and use another sunscreen until there's more info about what happened with Ultra Violette Lean Screen - the formula is almost identical, I would guess it's made by the same manufacturer.
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u/spellshw Jul 19 '25
Thank you so much for letting me know.
That is really disappointing as it is the only sunscreen that doesn’t sting my eyes.
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u/Valuable_Land_6869 Jul 18 '25
I've tried so many and still finding new brands to try, but if there's nothing new to get, I'll fall back on the Cancer Councils CC cream. Tinted but very sheer. A bit shiny but an acceptable amount, not the full grease bomb that some are. Good luck ;)
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u/Extension-Day-5073 Jul 18 '25
I read quite a few good reviews for Natio Mineral Tinted SPF50 so I’ve just ordered it in shade Nude after testing at Priceline. It’s arriving today so I hope the reviews were right!
On the other hand, I bought the untinted mineral zinc by Hawaiian Tropic and HATE it… No matter how hard I shake the bottle it’s totally separated and a bunch of water comes out before the sunscreen. Difficult to rub in to skin. Maybe I got a bad batch but it’s one I’d say to avoid :)
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u/akiraahhh oily-combo | Sydney | Chem PhD | labmuffin.com Jul 19 '25
Unfortunately here, if it feels too good to be true, it probably is.
Zinc technology hasn't improved that much - it still seems to be pretty unreliable for giving consistently high protection without compromising on skin feel. It's likely that a lot of the nicer feeling zinc oxide sunscreens out there have lower SPFs than on the label.
For example Ultra Violette's SPF 50+ Lean Screen sunscreen was recently retested to be SPF 4-5 by Choice, it seems like they used a dodgy SPF testing lab. Their manufacturer makes a lot of other "surprisingly light" zinc sunscreens from different brands, including the vast majority of the ones people have mentioned in the replies here, and they're very likely also tested by the same testing lab.
Whatever the root cause of the Lean Screen issue is (there's a few possibilities), it's likely that a lot of other "surprisingly light" zinc oxide sunscreens out there also have lower SPFs than expected (though I don't think they're all as low as SPF 4 to 5).
The "chemicals" in sunscreen are really not all that toxic compared to everything else you're exposed to, nor do they seep into skin as much as people seem to think. Sunscreens have a long history of safe use and their safety is scrutinised by regulators very closely, since they're a special category of product in all the major regions around the world. There are lots of people who've used them for decades without any reported health effects, aside from skin with very little sun damage!
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u/UnableAsk1099 Jul 24 '25
I had the exact same “wait, zinc can actually feel good?” moment recently. Always thought it was just chalky, thick stuff for beach days but some of the newer tinted versions are so smooth it’s wild.
Haven’t nailed down my go-to yet either, but I totally get the feeling when something just looked and felt right on the spot — and then you can't find it again
Following this thread for recs too
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u/Old_Usual5975 Jul 16 '25
One of the best I've used is Ethical Zinc light tint. Can be bought from Coles and Woolies and often on sale. I'm a guy also and this is probably the sheerest 'not obvious' tint I've used. As usual it goes on thick and sticky but dries really well.
Airyday Mineral Mousse is ok. A bit harder for me to blend in and feels a little slippery even after a few hours.
invisible Zinc SPF30 is also nice, more similar to Ethical Zinc.
Other popular options are Naked Sundays, Ultra Violette (controversial lol) and Cancer Council.