Chemical vs Mineral sunscreen: which one's better?

Somewhere in the last few years, chemical sunscreen became a villain. You've probably seen the wellness accounts with posts about absorption, hormones, and "what they're not telling you." The message was clear: mineral good, chemical bad.

The problem is that the science doesn't say that. And the ripple effects of this narrative fall hardest on people with deeper skin tones, who are already underserved by the SPF market, and who often can't use mineral sunscreens without a significant white cast. When chemical filters are demonised and mineral filters are aesthetically unusable, a lot of people simply stop wearing sunscreen altogether.

Where did this myth come from?

The turning point was a 2019-2020 study, which found that certain chemical UV filters were absorbed into the bloodstream after topical use. The study was small, early-stage, and explicitly not a safety determination. Its own authors said it didn't demonstrate harm, only that absorption had been detected and warranted further study.

What wellness media heard was: chemical sunscreen is in your blood and it's dangerous.

Dermatologists and toxicologists were quick to point out that detecting a substance in the bloodstream tells you nothing about whether it causes harm at that concentration. The question that matters is not whether something is detectable, but at what level it becomes a concern, and that evidence has not materialised. In the years since, no established link to hormonal disruption at normal use levels has emerged, and no study has shown that mineral sunscreen protects skin more effectively than a well-formulated chemical alternative.

What we use, and why

At Deeper Beauty, our SPF 50 uses a hybrid of chemical and mineral UV filters, selected specifically for their safety profile and their aesthetic performance on deeper skin tones.

Our UV filters are not associated with skin irritation and are well-suited for sensitive skin. We didn't choose them because they were the trending option; we chose them because the evidence supports them, and because they work for the skin we formulate for.

Wear your sunscreen, please. Regardless of your skin tone.