Sunscreen Ranker journal
The sunscreen
journal.
Daily, evidence-led notes on SPF, UV filters, and sun protection — every claim sourced, no cap.
- Skin cancer Mineral vs. Chemical Sunscreen in 2025: Reef-Safe Without Risking Skin Cancer You can protect both the reef and your skin — a dermatologist explains how to pick a mineral sunscreen that still guards against melanoma, no trade-off required. Read it →
- Reef-safe Hawaii's 2025 Law Puts Free Mineral Sunscreen Dispensers at State Beaches Heading to Hawaii? The state is now installing free reef-safe mineral sunscreen at beaches — so there's no excuse, or extra cost, to comply. Read it →
- Global Australia Sues Banana Boat and Hawaiian Tropic Over 'Reef Friendly' Claims The reef-safe labeling fight just went global — regulators are now targeting the same products you'll find on shelves wherever you travel. Read it →
- Global Korea Tested 38 Sunscreens in 2025: No Benzene, but Plenty of Overblown Claims K-beauty sunscreens passed the benzene and heavy-metal tests in 2025 — the real catch was unverified marketing claims. Read it →
- Global EU Homosalate Limit Hits Full Force July 2025: From 10% to 7.34% If you buy European sunscreen, the formula you loved may have quietly changed in 2025 — here's what the lower homosalate cap means for your label. Read it →
- Global Spain and Portugal Hit 46°C in the Record-Breaking 2025 European Heatwave The same extreme-heat days that broke June records also delivered punishing midday UV — here's why shade, clothing, and reapplied SPF matter most in a spike like this. Read it →
- Makeup + SPF WWD's 2025 Tinted-Moisturizer Test: When an SPF 30 Tint Is (and Isn't) Enough Two dermatologists give the real-world verdict: a tinted SPF moisturizer can carry a low-exposure day, but it's no beach-day sunscreen. Read it →
- UV science Endocrine Disruptors in Sunscreen: What the EU's 2025 Opinions Actually Said "Endocrine disruptor" is the scariest phrase in sunscreen marketing — the EU's 2025 case-by-case rulings show how scientists weigh hormone activity against real exposure. Read it →
- Filter chemistry Two Benzophenones, Two 2025 Verdicts: EU Clears BP-5 but Not BP-2 The EU's June 2025 ruling split two near-identically named filters into opposite verdicts — and shows why "benzophenones are bad" is the wrong takeaway. Read it →
- Filter chemistry EU Reaffirms Octinoxate Safe at 10% in 2025 SCCS Opinion Octinoxate is banned in Hawaii but the EU just reaffirmed it at 10% in 2025, a sharp case study in why 'endocrine-active' doesn't automatically mean 'unsafe at use levels.' Read it →
- Formulation EU Sets a Phthalate Impurity Limit for the UV Filter DHHB (2025) A modern UVA filter got scrutinized in 2025 not for itself but for a phthalate that can sneak in during manufacturing, showing why purity matters as much as the INCI name. Read it →
- Kids & family A Kids' Sunscreen Topped 2025 US Rankings, But Others Flopped For parents, 2025's tests cut both ways: the best-scoring sunscreen was a kids' formula, yet several kids' products badly underperformed, so here's how to choose. Read it →
- Application Consumer Reports 2025: Many Sunscreens Tested Below Their Label SPF America's best-known consumer tester echoes Australia's warning: you often can't take the SPF number at face value, so here's what to actually buy. Read it →
- Global Even a Kids' Zinc Sunscreen Failed Its SPF Claim in 2025 An SPF number is a promise, not a guarantee, and a 2025 Australian test shows why even a trusted kids' zinc sunscreen can underperform, plus what that means for application. Read it →
- Formulation 'Baby-Friendly' Sunscreen Has No Standard Definition, 2025 Study Finds That cute 'baby' bottle isn't a regulated category, so here's which label claims are meaningful and which are pure marketing before you choose your child's sunscreen. Read it →
- Filter chemistry SAFE Sunscreen Standards Act Becomes Law in November 2025 A bipartisan 2025 law finally chips away at why US sunscreen lags the world, opening a path for the elegant tinted and hybrid SPF formulas Americans import to be made at home. Read it →
- Application The CHOICE Investigation That Triggered a Sunscreen Recall Wave What an SPF label actually guarantees, and why a testing scandal abroad should change how you pick, apply, and reapply your sunscreen at home. Read it →
- Global June 2025 Was Western Europe's Warmest June on Record When dangerous heat and high UV arrive in June instead of August, the 'I'll start sunscreen in midsummer' habit leaves weeks of skin unprotected. Read it →
- Filter chemistry 16 of 20 Sunscreens Failed SPF Claims, One Returned SPF 4 The number on the bottle isn't a guarantee, so here's what an independent lab actually found and how to choose a sunscreen that delivers what it promises. Read it →
- Skin cancer When a Cancer Charity's Sunscreen Gets Flagged: The CHOICE Dispute Even a cancer-prevention charity's sunscreen got flagged in 2025, and the dispute that followed reveals why two labs can disagree, and why behavior beats the bottle. Read it →
- Application From SPF 50+ to SPF 4: The Ultra Violette Lean Screen Recall How can one sunscreen test as both SPF 4 and SPF 64? The Lean Screen saga is a masterclass in why SPF testing variability is a red flag, not a footnote. Read it →
- Global CHOICE's 2025 SPF Bombshell: 16 of 20 Sunscreens Failed The biggest sunscreen story of 2025 wasn't benzene, it was discovering the number on the bottle can be wildly wrong, and what that means for how much you reapply. Read it →
- Application 16 of 20 'SPF 50+' Sunscreens Failed Lab Tests in 2025 A 2025 lab test found most 'SPF 50+' sunscreens didn't hit their number, a reminder that label-vs-lab gaps are a global problem, not just an Australian one. Read it →
- Skin cancer Why the 25-Year US Sunscreen Filter Drought Is a Skin Cancer Problem Modern sunscreen filters have been stuck in regulatory limbo for a generation, and dermatology groups now frame fixing that as a fight against America's most common cancer. Read it →