I’ve just tried an interesting sunscreen called UV Natural Sunscreen Baby SPF 30+. As you know, I’m a big fan of Zinc Oxide-based sunscreens, and this UV Natural product has 24.8% Zinc Oxide, which is the highest percentage I’ve seen in a sunscreen. UV Natural sunscreens are biodegradable, not tested on animals, and the packaging is recyclable. Also, no fragrances or preservatives are added. The Environmental Working Group (EWG.org) also rates this as the best sunscreen. That is quite a feat, because that website hates just about every skin care product on the market and thinks just about every product is bad for our health! This product is about $32 for a 5 ounce tube, so it’s much more expensive than a drugstore find, but per-ounce, it’s cheaper than a lot of my other sunscreen favorites.

I’ve only tried the Baby version of the sunscreen, which appears to have the same ingredients as the Adult version. There’s also a Sport version, which I assume is more water resistant. These sunscreens contain no chemical sunscreen ingredients, so the only active ingredient is Zinc Oxide.

UV Natural Sunscreen Baby review

The Good:
This sunscreen is hydrating, so it’s great for someone with dry skin. You may be able to skip your moisturizer all together. When I first applied it, it seemed extremely sticky and greasy-feeling, however after waiting 10 minutes, it seems to sink into my skin, and just leaves it hydrated. UV Natural says not to put too much on to avoid the sticky feeling, so I’m not exactly sure how much is needed to achieve the SPF 30 rating. I needed to wait several minutes before applying my makeup (which is annoying) but my makeup went on smoothly, and this gave my face a bit of a glow. It also doesn’t leave a white cast. This product is safe to use on babies, and it’s also water resistant.

The fact that this has 24% Zinc Oxide is awesome. This is a great sunscreen for someone that can’t tolerate chemical sunscreen ingredients, or that has a problem with fragrances. It also contains antioxidants, and the packaging appears to be stable, so that the antioxidants can stay active.

The Bad:
This is not the sunscreen for you if you have oily skin. It’s just far too hydrating and thick, and it will just make your skin oiler. If you have normal skin, though, this should be fine. If you don’t like heavy feeling sunscreens, then this is not for you, but personally it doesn’t bother me. The other sad news is that this is probably not for you if you have acne-prone skin. UGHHH. The first inactive ingredient is grape seed oil, which is a 4 out of 5 on my pore-clogging list. This is the reason I never bought this sunscreen in the past, however I received this sunscreen free, and figured it was worth the acne-risk, because of its overall positive features. I have used it twice now, and have not had any breakouts. I will keep you updated on whether it breaks me out, and if that’s the case, this still makes a great body sunscreen. The smell of this product is a little weird - there are no fragrances added, but it has a slight smell, but not enough to bother me.

Shiseido SPF 55 vs. UV Natural SPF 30
Higher SPF sunscreens are generally better, because they offer more protection from getting burned (SPF 55 is maybe only 3% more protection than SPF 30, but to me that’s significant). My favorite sunscreen - Shiseido Ultimate Sun Protection Cream For Face SPF 55 only has 13.9% Zinc Oxide, compared to the 24.8% in UV Natural. It achieves a higher SPF because it has an added chemical sunscreen (7.4% Octinoxate). So which product is better? Currently I don’t know! I do feel that either of these sunscreens is much better than your typical drugstore sunscreen (due to the Zinc Oxide content), so you can’t go wrong with either one.

SPF measures UVB rays (the ones that burn you) but you also need to be watchful for UVA rays (the ones that give you wrinkles) and Zinc Oxide is capable of blocking both types of rays. My personal experience is that sunscreens with Zinc Oxide work better than any other types of sunscreen. Now that summer is coming, I will go to the pool and do some unscientific testing on myself, and compare a bunch of sunscreens at once.

Purchase UV Natural Sunscreen Baby SPF 30+