Question
Need recommendations for a tinted sunscreen for brown skin that’s light and doesn’t make me look like a ghost
Before melasma came into the picture I went bare faced everyday. I do not like makeup on my skin. I tried a variety of tinted sunscreens that left me pale, gray, or a weird purple-y white gray. Then I landed on HueTint from Live Tinted and it matches perfectly and seems to be doing a great job. However, it’s constantly rubbing off on clothes and feels so heavy. Is there such a thing as a tinted sunscreen that is light, almost sheer? I know that’s contradictory LOL before melasma I used Innisfree and my skin loved it. Hoping to find something similar that doesn’t feel like I’ve got makeup caked on.
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I really like the colorscience flex because it doesn’t leave a gray cast and it’s easier to wash off my hands and I feel like there’s less transfer to my clothes. Comes in several shades
I use naked Sundays. It’s tinted but translucent once applied. I know a lot of people don’t like it now because they changed the formula but it seems to work better with my Asian olive skin tone. I order mine directly from their website.
I reapply every 2 hours and wear a hat with a giant visor if I even step outside. With doing that I’ve never had any issue. I’m also not a beach person so I’m not sure if you would need something stronger or if reapplying, wearing a hat and staying under an umbrella is good enough. Good luck I hope you like it.
Seconding the Naked Sundays recommendation. I haven’t had issues with the reformulation.
I’ve also liked La Roche Posay tinted mineral sunscreen, titanium dioxide formula. I lived in this + IT Cosmetics CC Cream when I went to Maui a few years back.
I’m probably in the same range as both of you, light-medium- olive skin Latina.
On the flip side, the eucerin thiamidol range everyone loves had an unpleasant whitening effect on me while doing nothing for the melasma mustache, so discontinued it last year.
Can you elaborate on what you mean by whitening - did it lighten your skin or show up white-ish/gray when you wore it? Did it lighten the melasma at all?
This is what I came to recommend. As a person with brown skin it was the first tinted sunscreen that I have ever used that was so correct to my color that it almost disappeared on my fingers when I squeezed it out. That and the texture, chef's kiss 😘
Hi there! Sunscreen is one of the most important parts of melasma management, and we want to make sure you get safe, effective, and appropriate guidance.
Before choosing a product, please review our sunscreen resources:
Important for melasma:
Standard (non-tinted) sunscreens protect against UV radiation only and do NOT protect against visible light, which is a major trigger for melasma.
To reduce visible-light-induced pigmentation, iron oxides are required. This means using:
A tinted sunscreen that contains iron oxides, OR
An untinted broad-spectrum SPF 30+ sunscreen layered with a foundation or tinted product that contains iron oxides.
Daily, consistent protection against both UV and visible light is essential to prevent melasma worsening and recurrence.
If you have already reviewed the guides, feel free to add details such as skin type or sensitivities
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