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Hi everyone! This summer I’ve been researching sunscreen, and I’m trying to only use sunscreens that are eco-friendly and made with safe ingredients. I’ve recently discovered mineral sunscreens, and they have proven to be much safer to use than common chemical sunscreens. Below you will find my favorite mineral sunscreens, at a bunch of different price points, to help keep your skin safe! These sunscreens are perfect for vacations – road-trips, beach trips, and even back-yard staycations! Keep reading to discover the 7 best sunscreens to bring on vacation!
Top 3
Project Sunscreen
Project Sunscreen is a roll-on, 100% mineral sunscreen. We love the roll-on design and that these products do not contain any harmful ingredients! Project Sunscreen is great because they make sunscreens for babies, kids and adults! It’s TSA compliant, reef and ocean safe and hangs perfectly from a bag or backpack!
This sunscreen is perfect for taking on the go. Pack it in your carry-on for your next vacation, or hook it directly to your backpack! You can order Project Sunscreen from their website here, or on Amazon!
Skinnies
Skinnies is an amazing eco-friendly sunscreen brand! Their 100% natural, mineral formula uses no water – which saves 10,000 liters of water per year! Traditional sunscreens are made of 50-70% water – which isn’t helpful for you or the planet. Skinnies is different, and Maggie and I absolutely love their products!
Skinnies’ sunscreen gel is super concentrated, so you only need a small amount to protect your skin – a little goes a long way! The gel goes on clear and adapts to your skin tone, so there’s no white residue left behind.
Finally, we love how eco-friendly and sustainable Skinnies is. In addition to not using using any water in their products, Skinnies is also reef safe, vegan and cruelty free! Finally, at 3.4oz, it’s also TSA compliant – so pack it in your carry-on for your next trip!
You can purchase Skinnies directly on their website, or from Amazon.
Honua
I always use a separate face sunscreen because I have super sensitive skin. Honua’s Malu SPF30 day cream is my absolute favorite! The lotion uses zinc oxide as its main mineral ingredient, and the formula is completely reef and ocean safe.
The lotion smells amazing, and it goes on super smoothly – no white residue left behind. My skin feels hydrated and it doesn’t irritate my face at all. The lotion is a little expensive at $42 for 1oz, or $76 for 2oz – but personally I think it’s worth it.
Finally, I love that Honua donates a percentage of the profits from the Malu cream to Sustainable Coastlines Hawaii – a non-profit that works to keep oceans clean!
You can purchase the Malu day cream directly on the Honua website, or on Amazon.
Other Great Options
Badger
Badger’s Damascus Rose Sunscreen is another great mineral sunscreen option specifically for your face. At $20 for 1.6oz it’s affordable and the perfect size to pop in a makeup bag. It’s reef safe, ocean safe and cruelty free! It’s also made with a non-greasy formula so it won’t clog your pores.
You can order directly on their website, or on Amazon.
Pacifica Mineral Sunscreen
I love Pacifica products! They’re affordable and they’re made with clean, safe ingredients. Their mineral bronzing sunscreen is great as well, and it’s perfect to take to the beach or pool. I love that it gives you a nice color, and also protects your skin. Like all of their products, it’s also vegan and cruelty free. At 6oz this is not airplane carry-on friendly, but it’s great for road trips!
Shop directly on their website, or on Amazon. Pacifica also has other affordable sunscreen options, like this face stick, and this mineral bronzing butter!
Blue Lizard
Blue Lizard makes mineral based sunscreens with “smart cap” technology. The caps of the bottles change color when harmful UV light is detected, alerting you to re-apply! This is a great option for those of us who always forget to reapply our sunscreen.
Blue Lizard sunscreens come in both travel sized and full sized tubes – so they’re perfect for plane trips and road trips! You can purchase directly from their website, or on Amazon.
Supergoop
Supergoop has tons and tons of sunscreen options (including makeup!), so there’s sure to be something for everyone! What I love about Supergoop is that their products not only protect against sun damage, but also against blue-light and pollution. They only use clean and reef safe ingredients, so this is sunscreen you can feel good about using!
One of my favorite products is the Defense Refresh (Re)setting Mist. It’s a makeup setting spray with SPF! I like to use this after using my regular face sunscreen, as it’s super refreshing and offers additional protection. It also comes in two sizes, 3.4oz and 1oz, so you can easily take it on the go!
Click here to purchase on the Supergoop website, and here to purchase on Amazon.
Thanks so much for reading about the 7 best sunscreens to bring on vacation! Let me know your favorite sunscreen in the comments.
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Great guide! Been looking for one that is safe for marine life.
I love the roll on design of Project Sunscreen! I’ve never used a roll on sunscreen before but it looks really convenient and I love that you can hang it off a bag. They also look really colourful! Thanks for the great guide, I always slip into the habit of just picking up sunscreen at the supermarket without much thought, I want to look into some of these other options!
Thank you for the recommendations! We always use reef-safe but I’ve actually never heard of these brands before. I’ll have to check them out!
When we first moved to Turkey we were surprised about how expensive sunscreen was so we always had to buy in the UK or US and take it over with us. And those sunscreen bottles came in handy … there’s lots of beach resorts and events that won’t let you take alcohol, so we used to clean out the sunscreen bottles and then fill them with vodka or gin. There’s no way your sunscreen would get confiscated!
I always try to use reef safe sunscreen but it can be so hard to find a decent brand. There are a few in this guide I’ve never heard of, so I’ll have to check them out! Thanks for sharing!