By Breelyn Vanleeuwen, PA-C | Founder & CEO of Daily Shade
I went to PA school. I did surgical rotations at Brigham and Women's Hospital. I spent years working alongside dermatologists and plastic surgeons who saw the long-term consequences of sun damage every single day. And not one of those experiences taught me how to read a sunscreen label. Because the people I was being taught from didn't know how to read a sunscreen label.
That's not a complaint. It's just the truth. Medical school, PA programs, NP programs, none of them include coursework on cosmetic formulation or ingredient safety. It's not part of the curriculum. So when patients asked me what sunscreen to use, I gave the same answer most clinicians give. Wear sunscreen. Find one you'll actually use. Some of my colleagues would specify mineral. Most just said find something you like and be consistent. I only heard one Plastic Surgeon say, "If you want to truly protect your skin wear a TRUE mineral sunscreen, not a hybrid just mineral."
Wearing sunscreen and wearing a sunscreen that does what you think it does are two very different things.
When my daughter had a severe reaction to a sunscreen that had the word "baby" on the label it also had the words "100% Mineral", I started doing research I had never thought to do before. As a medical professional. Someone who had spent her career in clinical settings where skin health was the whole point. I had no idea what I was supposed to be looking for.
So I became a detective. And I want to save you some of the time that cost me.
Why this is harder than it should be?
The sunscreen industry is allowed to market products as mineral even when they contain chemical compounds. The loophole is in how the FDA classifies active versus inactive ingredients. A brand can list zinc oxide as the only active ingredient, put "100% mineral" on the front of the bottle, and still include UV chemical boosters in the inactive ingredients section. Yeah I know, MIND BLOWN!
UV boosters aren't classified as active UV filters, so they don't have to be disclosed that way. But, don't be fooled, they absorb UV rays, they absorb into the body the same way, and have the same safety questions as the registered actives. They inflate the SPF number. And they have a fraction of the safety data that zinc oxide has accumulated over decades.
This is my single biggest frustration with even well-intentioned consumer tools like EWG, the Environmental Working Group. EWG does genuinely useful work and their Skin Deep database is worth knowing about. But they don't consistently flag uv chemical boosters as a concern the way they do active uv chemical filters. A sunscreen can score well on EWG and still contain butyloctyl salicylate or ethylhexyl methoxyacrylate in the inactive ingredients. For a parent trying to make a safe choice, that's a real blind spot.
The tools that have gotten closer to what I actually want for my own family are YUKA (still not perfect but better than EWG in my opinion) and Switch Natural which is currently my go to and favorite for skin care products. YUKA scans product barcodes and scores them based on ingredient safety, and it's become one of my most recommended apps for parents who are just starting to pay attention to what's in their products. our Daily Shade Sunscreen Babe Shade scores a 93 out of 100 on YUKA, which I'm proud of.
Switch Natural is my personal favorite for sunscreen specifically. Their database and filtering tools are built around the kind of nuance most apps miss, and they're the closest thing I've found to a resource that thinks about formulation the way I do. And I really appreciate it scans the actual ingredient label instead of the barcode which may not be up-to-date (which after more often than you think).
If you don't want to rely on an App...How to actually read a sunscreen label: a step by step guide:
Step 1: Start with the active ingredients box, not the front of the bottle.
Ignore the marketing language on the front entirely. Flip it over. The active ingredients are listed in a separate box, usually near the top of the back label. This is the only place where FDA-regulated UV filters are disclosed. If you see only zinc oxide listed here, that's a good sign. If you see zinc oxide plus titanium dioxide, that's still mineral. If you see avobenzone, oxybenzone, octinoxate, homosalate, or octisalate, the product is chemical or hybrid.
Step 2: Check what percentage of zinc oxide is listed.
Zinc oxide percentage matters. A formula with 5% or 7% zinc oxide and a claim of SPF 30 should raise a question. Getting to SPF 30 on zinc alone requires a significantly higher concentration, typically in the 15 to 20% range. If the zinc percentage is low and the SPF claim is high, something else is doing the work.
Step 3: Read the full inactive ingredients list, not just the actives.
This is where the uv chemical boosters hide. Scan for any of these: butyloctyl salicylate, ethylhexyl methoxyacrylate, diethylhexyl syringylidene malonate, tridecyl salicylate, polysilicone-15, drometrizole trisiloxane, or bemotrizinol. These are UV chemical boosters. They are not listed as actives, but they are absorbing UV radiation and contributing to the SPF number. A product with these ingredients is a hybrid, regardless of what the front label says.
Step 4: Look for penetration enhancers.
Some ingredients are added specifically to help other ingredients absorb more deeply into the skin. This is fine in some skincare contexts. In a sunscreen you're applying to a child's face every day, it's worth paying attention to. Common ones include isododecane in high concentrations and certain alcohols. These aren't automatically dangerous, but in combination with chemical boosters they can mean compounds are absorbing more deeply than you'd expect from a product marketed as sitting on the skin's surface.
Step 5: Use a scanning app as a second opinion.
After you've read the label yourself, run it through Switch Natural or YUKA to check. These tools aren't infallible but they add a layer of verification and often flag ingredients you might not recognize by name. Think of them as a second set of eyes.
Step 6: When in doubt, ask what's doing the SPF work.
That's the core question. If a brand can't tell you clearly how their formula achieves its SPF rating, or if the zinc percentage is too low to account for the claimed SPF on its own, you have your answer.
What I look for now
After years of researching this, formulating our own products, and going through FDA testing without uv chemical boosters, here's my personal shortlist. Non-nano zinc oxide as the only active ingredient. A zinc concentration of at least 15%, ideally 20%. No UV chemical boosters anywhere in the inactive ingredients. No synthetic fragrances or dyes. Adherence to EU ingredient standards, which ban over 1,700 substances that are still permitted in the US.
That list took me years to build. It shouldn't have to take you that long.
The reality is that consumers are doing work right now that clinicians were never trained to do and that regulators haven't fully caught up with. You are not being paranoid when you flip the bottle over and read the fine print. You are being exactly as careful as the situation requires.
FAQ
How do I read a sunscreen label to know if it's truly mineral? Start with the active ingredients box on the back of the product. Only zinc oxide and titanium dioxide are classified as mineral UV filters by the FDA. Then read the full inactive ingredients list for chemical boosters like butyloctyl salicylate, which can make a product hybrid even when zinc is the only active listed.
What are non toxic sunscreen ingredients to look for? Non-nano zinc oxide is the gold standard. It sits on the skin's surface, deflects UV rather than absorbing it, and has decades of safety data behind it. Titanium dioxide is also considered a mineral filter. Look for formulas that are fragrance-free, dye-free, and free of chemical boosters in the inactive ingredients.
Is EWG reliable for choosing sunscreen? EWG's Skin Deep database is a useful starting point but has a known gap around UV chemical boosters, which it doesn't consistently flag as a concern. Why? I have no idea. I'd love to know. I would LOVE an answer from them on this. A product can score well on EWG and still contain booster ingredients. Cross-reference with Switch Natural or YUKA for a more complete picture.
What is YUKA and how does it help with sunscreen? YUKA is a free app that scans product barcodes and scores them based on ingredient safety. It's one of the more accessible tools for parents who are learning to evaluate product labels and gives a quick overall safety rating based on the full ingredient list.
What is Switch Natural and how does it help with sunscreen? Switch Natural is paid app created by an independent researcher and mom who spent nearly a decade investigating product ingredients. Unlike barcode-scanning apps that pull from a database, Switch Natural photographs the actual ingredient label and reads each ingredient individually, flagging anything potentially harmful and linking to the research behind it. It covers skincare, personal care, and baby and kids products, and because it's independently funded it doesn't have the same conflict of interest concerns that come with some of the larger apps. It's my personal favorite tool for parents who are learning to navigate labels. Like any app, it's a second opinion, not a final answer, so I still recommend reading the inactive ingredients yourself alongside using it.
Why don't doctors recommend specific sunscreen ingredients? Medical training doesn't include cosmetic formulation or ingredient science. Clinicians are trained to recommend sun protection broadly, not to evaluate specific chemical compounds in inactive ingredient lists. That gap is real and it's worth knowing about. There are some clinicians who have gone above and beyond their traditional training like myself who are very integrated in this space and have taken the time to learn it and form strong opinions. However, most the time this is not the case.
What percentage of zinc oxide is enough for SPF 30? Generally, a formula needs around 15 to 20% non-nano zinc oxide to achieve SPF 30 without the help of chemical boosters. If a product lists a lower zinc percentage and claims SPF 30 or higher, other ingredients are likely contributing to that number.
