Natural Moisturizer Meets Zinc Sunscreen

If you have ever put on sunscreen and felt your skin tighten up an hour later, you are not imagining it. Many mineral sunscreens use a water base. Water evaporates. When it evaporates off your skin, it can take some of your skin's own moisture with it. That trade-off, protection now, dryness later, is one of the most common complaints about zinc oxide sunscreen. It does not have to work that way.

What makes zinc sunscreen different from chemical sunscreen

Zinc oxide is a mineral. Instead of absorbing into skin the way chemical sunscreen filters do, it sits on the surface and physically blocks and scatters ultraviolet rays. That is why zinc based formulas are often called physical or mineral sunscreens. Because zinc oxide works on the surface, the base ingredients around it matter just as much as the zinc itself. The base is what carries the zinc, keeps the formula spreadable, and determines how your skin feels after you apply it. Most formulas lean on water. We built ours around glycerin instead.

Why glycerin works as a natural moisturizer base

Glycerin is a humectant, which means it attracts and holds onto moisture rather than letting it evaporate away. It pulls water from the air toward your skin instead of pulling water away from your skin. That is the core idea behind our approach to sun care. Our 3rd Rock Sunblock Unscented, SPF 35 uses a high concentration of food-grade glycerin (meaning it meets the same purity standard used in edible products) in place of a standard water base. The result is a formula that supports skin's moisture levels while it protects against UV exposure, rather than working against your skin to do it. This is the same philosophy behind everything we make at 3rd Rock. If an ingredient is not safe enough to eat, we do not think it belongs on your skin either. A sunscreen sits on your body for hours at a time, often in the heat, so what is in the base is worth paying attention to.

What to look for in the best mineral sunscreen

When you are comparing mineral sunscreens, a few questions can help you sort through the options:

• Does it use zinc oxide as the active ingredient, rather than chemical UV filters
• Is the base built to support skin, or built mainly to feel light and disappear
• Does it avoid endocrine disruptors, ingredients that can interfere with the body's hormone signaling
• Is it free of aluminum, synthetic fragrance, and parabens
• Can you read the ingredient list and recognize what is in it

Our full Sun Protection line is built around these standards, formulated with skin-safe, earth-derived ingredients instead of synthetic fillers.

A simpler standard for sun care

Sun protection should not force a choice between shielding your skin and taking care of it. A natural moisturizer base and a mineral active ingredient can work together instead of against each other. That is the standard we formulate to, and it is signal, not noise, when you are trying to figure out what actually belongs on your skin.