The Best Mineral Sunscreen for kids 2025

Finding a good mineral sunscreen is a topic that is near and dear to my heart, and it is probably also for you too, if you are reading this. You have probably tried to eliminate plastic and PFAs from your kitchen too 😏

I’ve tried them all, all of the “clean” brands, drugstore brands, overseas brands, in stick form, lotions and sprays.

Here my round up of my favorite. And by that I mean a sunscreen that isn’t too messy to use, because it’s not like we don’t have enough messes to deal with already 🙃

❌Ingredients to avoid in sunscreens

If you use sunscreen every day, it’s best to avoid these ingredients. Mineral sunscreens should NOT contain these ingredients but you should ALWAYS check the label because it could contain minerals AND chemicals.

Ingredient	Main Concern
Oxybenzone	Endocrine disruptor, reef toxic
Octinoxate	Hormone disruptor, reef toxic
Homosalate	Hormone disruptor
Octocrylene	Reef toxic, hormone disruptor, irritation
Avobenzone	Photounstable, free radicals
Octisalate	Mild endocrine disruptor
Ensulizole	Free radicals, irritation, UVB only
Sulisobenzone	Endocrine disruptor

✅Safe mineral sunscreen ingredients

Zinc Oxide & Titanium Dioxide

Nano or micronized is fine, as long as you are using it on unbroken skin and NOT breathing it in (no sprays). If you are concerned, then choose non-nano only.

They are safe for both humans and reefs.

Just say no to aerosol spray sunscreens

Please, for the love of all things good, STOP using chemical aerosol spray sunscreen! I find this as bad as smoking. When you spray this toxic stuff, you’re making everyone around you breathe it in.

Aerosol spray mineral sunscreens are equivalent to white spray paint. Be warned, it’s hard to get out of car interiors. It is easily inhaled – You want the zinc and titanium to stay on your skin, not break down in your lungs.

The best mineral sunscreens – full list

Thrive Natural Care Mineral Face Sunscreen SPF 30

This rubs in like a dream. A friend who only used non-toxic products (sadly, due to a cancer diagnosis) also liked this brand for sunscreen.

Though this is not marketed for kids, its ingredients are child-safe.

• ✅No white cast
• ✅Nice fresh scent from essential oils
• ✅Non-nano zinc
• ✅Moisturizing
• ❌Not water resistant, so it’s not suitable for pool or super sweaty days.

Babo Botanicals Sensitive Baby Mineral Sunscreen Spray SPF30

NON-AEROSOL spray! I spray it into my hand to apply to skin to avoid getting it everywhere.

I love everything from this brand. A reliable women-owned brand. Their tube sunscreens are too thick for me though.

Also comes in a stick version – which rubs in quite well!

• ✅Minimal white cast due to its consistency
• ✅Fragrance free, clean ingredients
• ✅Water resistant
• ✅Slightly moisturizing
• ❌The small cap gets lost easily

Babo Botanicals Sensitive Baby Mineral Sunscreen Stick SPF

Like the spray version, but as a stick! It is surprisingly sheer,

• ✅Minimal white cast and easy to rub in
• ✅Fragrance free, clean ingredients
• ✅Water resistant
• ✅Not drying
• ✅No mess
• ❌Stick sunscreens need to be applied thoroughly to get decent coverage

Coppertone Pure and Simple Baby Sunscreen Stick

• ✅This brand is sold is most pharmacies and big box stores!
• ✅Almost sheet and surprisingly easy to rub in
• ✅Fragrance free, clean ingredients
• ✅Water resistant
• ✅Moisturizing (shea butter)
• ✅No mess
• ❌Stick sunscreens need to be applied thoroughly to get decent coverage

Sun Bum Kids SPF 50 Clear Face Stick Sunscreen (CHEMICAL EXCEPTION!)

This is the only reef safe chemical sunscreen we use. It is because sometimes, you just need something that fits in your pocket and reliably does not stain your clothes.

It is reef-safe, but it does contain Homosalate, Octocrylene, Octisalate, Avobenzone.

• ✅This brand is sold is most pharmacies and big box stores!
• ✅Transparent – absolutely no white cast
• ✅Water-resistant
• ✅Kids like the “fruity” scent
• ✅Not drying
• ✅No mess
• ❌Stick sunscreens need to be applied thoroughly to get decent coverage

Bottom line: choose between hormone disruption vs white cast

The trade-off for choosing child-safe sunscreens is that they will typically leave a white cast. You have to choose between potential build up of hormone disruptors in the body vs a bit of a white cast.

What about CeraVe, Neutrogena, Babyganics and Thinkbaby?

I have tried multiple forms of sunscreen from all of these brands. Overall, I do trust the efficacy of sunscreens from these brands, but there were just better formulations out there.

Thinkbaby – My first “baby” sunscreen was ThinkBaby. They definitely market to parents. I had a stick and it was easy to apply to a little baby.

However, I find that Thinkbaby, while effective, was just too thick and I wanted less of a white cast.

Babyganics – I used to swear by the rollerball mineral kids sunscreen. However, in the last couple of years, they changed their formula to be too runny, causing a lot of mess in backpacks 🙁

CeraVe stick sunscreens were also quite sheer like the others, but they made me break out. The daily facial sunscreen was ok.

Neutrogena – I think everyone must have used Neutrogena sunscreens at some point! Like all of the other brands, they have now created mineral sunscreen lotions and sticks. However, I can never find mineral only ones in the store!

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