EltaMD's New Green-Tinted Sunscreen Is the Glowiest Mineral SPF I've Ever Tried
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Courtesy of subject; Design by Ingrid Fowler
Testing mineral sunscreens makes you feel a bit like Goldilocks, except instead of a house in the woods, you’ve wandered into the skin-care section of Sephora. Going through the options, you find this one’s too thick. That one’s too chalky. This one smells like loose change. This one definitely won’t play nicely with your favorite new foundation.
The thing is, dermatologists love mineral sunscreen, especially if you find chemical-based formulas irritating, which is a whopping "25 percent of all people," board-certified dermatologist Corey L. Hartman, founder of Skin Wellness Dermatology in Birmingham, Alabama, previously told Allure. That’s why the folks over at EltaMD have been hard at work formulating an all-mineral option that's as lightweight, transparent, and efficacious as the brand’s best-selling UV Clear Broad Spectrum SPF 46, which contains zinc oxide as well as octinoxate, a chemical UV filter. Nearly 10 years of research later, and the brand has done it with the EltaMD UV Skin Recovery SPF 50 Red Color Correcting Sunscreen, a green-tinted, zinc oxide-based formula that looks and feels like a chemical sunscreen but is suitable for the most skin types, including sensitive. In fact, it claims to treat the root of your sensitivity and redness with a slew of barrier-repairing ingredients.
The UV Skin Recovery SPF 50 Sunscreen is one of the "top five products of my career," says Lia Arvanitidou, PhD, the executive vice president of R&D in skin health at Colgate Palmolive, which is EltaMD's parent company. She and her team have been working on the formula since Colgate Palmolive acquired EltaMD in 2017. But this mighty claim isn't the reason we've named it our One to Watch honoree this month. It’s because after getting a sneak peek and testing it on a variety of different skin types, myself and the Allure team agree it’s an exceptional mineral formula that checks all the boxes for even the pickiest sunscreen shopper. Below, learn more about the EltaMD UV Skin Recovery SPF 50 Red Color Correcting Sunscreen and why it’s more than just right in our books.
EltaMD UV Skin Recovery Red Color Correcting SPF 50 Sunscreen
$52.00, EltaMD
Meet the Experts:
Lia S. Arvanitidou, PhD, is executive vice president of R&D in skin health, personal and home care at Colgate-Palmolive.
Amanda Lam is a cosmetic chemist in Los Angeles.
Hadley King, MD, is a board-certified dermatologist in New York City.
Overview
EltaMD has made a name for itself making really good sunscreens that are loved by dermatologists and recommended by the Skin Cancer Foundation. And while all of its formulas are fragrance- and paraben-free, making them supremely gentle, the brand saw white space in the market for people with very sensitive skin. “We wanted to take it a step further with an all-mineral formulation that addresses sensitive, redness-prone skin by repairing the skin barrier,” says Arvanitidou. As a reminder, the skin barrier is the outermost layer of the skin (also known as the epidermis) that guards against external stressors. When the barrier is not properly protected, it can begin to crack, leaving the skin vulnerable to damage. “It all starts with the skin barrier,” explains Aravnitidou. “If the skin barrier is not strong and is inflamed, redness will show up.”
The EltaMD team was also responding to a request from customers and dermatologists for an SPF that could address redness in the skin. “People weren’t specifically asking for a color-correcting sunscreen, but they were asking for immediate redness reduction,” adds Arvanitidiou. “I immediately thought of color theory and green’s ability to neutralize red, and that's what started this whole development.” Thus, the UV Skin Recovery SPF 50 Red Color Correcting Sunscreen was born, combining color-correcting pigments typically used in cosmetics with mineral sun-blockers and proprietary skin-barrier repair technology (more on that in a second).
The formula is so gentle, in fact, that it can be used on skin after a fractional, non-ablative laser procedure. EltaMD conducted 11 clinical tests to determine the suitability and effectiveness of the sunscreen for sensitive skin, including in-vitro (tests on skin cells samples) and ex-vivo (tests on human skin cultures), and across the entire Fitzptrack scale (the scale divides skin tones into six shade categories, with 1 being the lightest and 6 being the darkest). But the team also ran a very small study with Denver-based board-certified dermatologist, Joel Cohen, MD, a member of EltaMD’s advisory board. Cohen sent 15 of his patients home with the sunscreen post-procedure. Not only could they tolerate the cream, but the patients also saw immediate redness reduction after first use.
The Ingredients
Like any mineral sunscreen formula on the market, EltaMD’s UV Skin Recovery SPF 50 Red Color Correcting Sunscreen uses zinc oxide as a UV blocker. Zinc oxide works by sitting on the surface of your skin and physically reflecting a wide range of UV wavelengths, New York City-based, board-certified dermatologist Hadley King, MD, previously told Allure. These wavelengths include UVB rays, which are responsible for sunburns, and UVA rays, which cause longer-term issues like hyperpigmentation, fine lines, and skin cancer.
Arvanitidou and her team used a special grade of zinc oxide, something they call “transparent zinc oxide,” which features a “particular structure” that allowed them to create a more “cosmetically-elegant formula”—i.e. one that glides effortlessly over the skin and absorbs quickly. Lam believes it might be zinc oxide nanoparticles, “which means it is a super small particle size to decrease the telltale white cast” left behind mineral sunscreens.
Beyond the gentle sun blocker, the UV Skin Recovery Red Color Correcting Sunscreen tackles redness and sensitivity in a variety of ways. “We’re treating it from the outside, in as well as from the inside, out,” says Arvanitidou. On the surface level, it does this with the green pigment, which neutralizes redness in the skin, Centella asiatica, the plant also known as “tiger grass” that is great at soothing angry, irritated skin, and even the zinc oxide, which calms inflammation (that’s why it’s the main ingredient in many diaper-rash creams). Ceramides, which are naturally part of the lipid layer of our epidermis and incorporated into the formula, also work on the surface of the skin to strengthen and protect the skin barrier.
Strengthening the skin barrier at a cellular level—"from the outside, in"—is what Arvanitidou and her team spent the most time researching. Their solution? Amino acids, those very important building blocks of our skin. The brand’s proprietary AAComplex contains three different types of amino acids: taurine, which is outstanding when it comes to repairing damaged skin cells; arginine, which helps keep the skin hydrated; and glycine, which is a collagen builder. “We had to really fine tune the level of each one, and we came up with the “golden ratio” where the three work synergistically,” says Arvanitidou.
All of this together—the peptides, the ceramides, the centella extract—Lam says, can improve the skin barrier so that it can help with long-term redness reduction.
How I Tested It
I wouldn’t say I’m particularly sensitive (I think both my dermatologist and my husband would agree to that). I do, however, struggle with mild rosacea. When it comes to sunscreen, though, the big issue is my eyes. As a contact wearer, a majority of SPFs can cause my eyes to burn if I accidentally rub them. While testing, not once did the UV Skin Recovery Sunscreen irritate my eyes. In fact, I fell in love with the formula.
As a regular makeup wearer (when I’m not working from home), I’m hesitant to wear mineral sunscreen as it can often pill underneath my base makeup or leave my complexion looking dull. Shockingly, then UV Skin Recovery Sunscreen feels and acts more like a chemical sunscreen—the supremely silky lotion applies beautifully and absorbs quickly. The only sign it’s a mineral-based formula is the faint smell of zinc oxide that lingers on your skin a few minutes after you apply it.
The luxurious texture is a point Arvanitidou is particularly proud of. “Ten years ago, our goal was to create a lightweight, all-mineral sunscreen,” she explains. “I still can't believe we did it because you have so many things working against you when formulating with mineral sunscreen filters; and if a sunscreen is not nice to use, who is going to follow the FDA rule that says to reapply it every two hours? We really had to create a next-level formulation that was lightweight and absorbed quickly so people would love to go back and reapply.”
Lam explains that this silky, non-greasy texture may be down to the addition of boosting and stabilizing ingredients, which allows the brand to cut back on the amount of zinc oxide in the formula without forgoing efficacy. “This sunscreen contains only 12.9% zinc oxide and achieves an SPF value of 50,” explains Lam. “Typically, you need a bit more zinc oxide to achieve an SPF value that high, but they have used boosters and solubilizers like butyloctyl salicylate and ethylhexyl methoxycrylene.” According to Lam, these ingredients are very popular in sunscreens because they increase the SPF value without having to add even more of the UV filter, which in this case is the zinc oxide. The less zinc oxide, the lighter and less greasy the sunscreen will feel.
For testing purposes, I swapped out my everyday SPF (Supergoop Unscreen Sunscreen) for the UV Skin Recovery Red Color Correcting SPF 50 Sunscreen. After my morning cleanse, vitamin C serum, and face cream, I’d apply two-to-three pumps of the stuff on my face. It goes on green but then immediately turns white and then sheer as you rub it in. On days I wore makeup, I’d wait about five minutes before applying my favorite base (Pat McGrath Labs Skin Fetish Sublime Perfection Foundation, Monika Blunder Blunder Cover, or the Lisa Eldridge Enhancing Skin Tint). The UV Skin Recovery worked well with all of them and didn’t pill throughout the day. Being in my late 30s with combination skin—and living in a city with very hard water that dries you out from head to toe—I loved that it left my complexion looking dewy, something I’ve never seen from an all-mineral sunscreen. As a scientist, Arvanitidou said she didn’t want to call it a miracle, but the results are pretty damn miraculous.
In fact, some people may find the UV Skin Recovery Sunscreen to be a bit too glowy. I passed along a bottle to a friend in her early 30s who is quite picky about her skin care and she felt it left her looking shinier than she prefers. My only (minor) gripe with the product is I wish the green tint was a little more powerful. If you’re expecting Erborian CC Red Correct or Dr Jart+ Cicapair Camo Drops levels of neutralizing, this is not that. It’s not a hybrid makeup product. The green tint is quite sheer and I find the area around my nose still looks a little red, although, if I’m going out and don’t want to apply a full face of makeup, a quick dab of concealer will do the trick.
Where to Buy It
The green-tinted EltaMD UV Skin Recovery SPF 50 Red Color Correcting Sunscreen is $52 and available to shop at eltamd.com, as well as select dermatologist offices across the country.
EltaMD UV Skin Recovery Red Color Correcting SPF 50 Sunscreen
$52.00, EltaMD
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