1,264 sunscreens. Five questions.
Sunscreen is the one product where regulation, chemistry, and your actual Tuesday all collide — a beach day in Maui has different legal rules than a desk day under makeup. Tell us where this bottle will live, how you feel about filters and white cast, and what your skin tolerates, and we’ll score every sunscreen in our database against your answers.
Educational tool, not a diagnosis or a prescription — if you have a history of skin cancer, photosensitivity, or a reaction to sunscreen, see a board-certified dermatologist. Your answers stay private — saved on this device, and to your free account when you're signed in.
Where will this sunscreen live?
This is the single biggest factor — a pool sunscreen and an under-makeup sunscreen are barely the same product category.
Where do you stand on filters?
There’s no wrong answer — each camp trades something real for something real.
Your skin
We’ll exclude high-cast formulas outright and boost tinted mineral options — their iron oxides neutralize the cast and add visible-light protection, which matters if you deal with melasma or hyperpigmentation.
Feel & format
Honest note on sprays: aerosols were the center of the 2021 benzene recalls (Neutrogena, Coppertone, Banana Boat), and sprays are the easiest format to under-apply. Fine as a top-up over a proper base layer — risky as your only coat.
The practical stuff
Your matches
Close runners-up
Almost made the cutRegulatory facts current as of July 2026. Scores come from our published reviews; matching runs entirely in your browser.
Your answers and phototype — saved on this device, and to your free account when you're signed in. See or clear it in Your data.
- Building a RoutineYour First Routine Is Three Products, and Two of Them Are BoringEvery beginner guide quietly wants to sell you nine. The physiology wants three — and the most valuable thing a skincare site can give a newcomer is the confidence not to buy things.
- Sun ProtectionThe Sunscreen Dose Math Nobody Runs, and Why Your SPF 50 Probably Isn't OneProtection does not scale linearly with how much you apply. It scales as a root — which means the difference between a proper layer and your usual one is not a few points of SPF.
- K-BeautyYou Can Read Why Korean Sunscreen Is Better. You Still Can't Buy It at Target.The blocker isn't chemistry — it's a classification. In the US a sunscreen is a drug, and that single word explains the empty shelf, the relabelled bottles, and what finally changed in June 2026.
- Men's SkincareMen Know Sunscreen Works. The Gap Is Not an Education Problem — It's a Texture Problem.Forty years of public-health messaging has not closed the male sunscreen gap, because the thing men object to was never the science.
How the finder works
Every sunscreen in the Dermington database carries a machine-read profile built from its full INCI list: which UV filters it actually contains (mineral zinc and titanium, the older US chemical set, or the modern Tinosorb/Mexoryl/Uvinul generation), its SPF and PA rating, water-resistance labeling, tint, finish tags, fragrance status, and two derived risk flags — eye-sting likelihood, based on the filters most often blamed for stinging, and white-cast risk, based on mineral content and tint. Your five answers become a weighted scorecard: where the sunscreen will live counts most, then filter philosophy, skin fit, texture, and practical constraints, with our published review score as the quality floor.
Some answers are scored; others are non-negotiable and simply remove products. Pick a reef-protected destination and anything with oxybenzone or octinoxate disappears — those filters have been banned from sale in Hawaii since 2021, and Maui County goes further by allowing only mineral formulas. Toggle sting-prone eyes and every product containing a sting-associated filter is gone. If your constraints eliminate everything, the tool tells you exactly which requirement cut deepest and offers to relax it — no silent empty pages.
The 2026 filter landscape
The single biggest sunscreen story in a generation broke this June: the FDA approved bemotrizinol (Tinosorb S) on June 9, 2026 — the first new US over-the-counter filter in roughly 25 years. It changes little immediately: the order takes effect in August and US launches are realistically 2027+, so imported European, Korean, and Japanese sunscreens still hold an objective edge in long-UVA protection through 2026. A few fixed points worth knowing while you shop: PA++++ is Japan’s top UVA grade and means a tested UVA protection factor of 16 or more. US law permits exactly two water-resistance claims — 40 or 80 minutes — and “sport” has no legal definition anywhere; it is pure marketing. Korea regulates sunscreen as a functional cosmetic with certified-lab testing, a system tightened after the 2020–21 Purito SPF scandal. And for swim or sweat days, the dermatology consensus is simple: 80-minute water resistance, a full dose, and reapplication every two hours and after every swim or towel-off. SPF in makeup or powder alone is applied far too thinly to deliver its labeled number.
This finder is educational, not medical advice — it can’t see your skin or your history. For photosensitivity, a history of skin cancer, or reactions to sunscreen, see a board-certified dermatologist. Regulatory facts current as of July 2026.
Common questions
Are Korean sunscreens better than American sunscreens?
On UVA protection, usually yes — Korean formulas can use modern filters like Uvinul A Plus and the Tinosorb family that US products still cannot, and Korea regulates sunscreen as a "functional cosmetic" with pre-market review and certified-lab PA testing. The 2020–21 Purito scandal (a labeled SPF 50+ that tested around 19) forced real reform: brands like Beauty of Joseon now publish independent two-lab certifications. American sunscreens win on one axis — you can replace them at any drugstore, and FDA oversight of manufacturing is strict.
What sunscreen filters are banned in Hawaii?
Hawaii has banned the sale of sunscreens containing oxybenzone or octinoxate statewide since 2021. Maui County goes further: since October 2022, only mineral sunscreens — zinc oxide and titanium dioxide — are legal there, so even a "reef-safe" chemical formula does not qualify. Key West, Palau, Bonaire, Aruba, and parts of Mexico have similar rules. This tool automatically screens out flagged filters when you pick a reef-protected destination.
Mineral vs chemical sunscreen — which is better?
Neither, universally — the best sunscreen is the one you will actually apply at full dose every day. Mineral (zinc/titanium) is the standard advice for sensitive skin, sting-prone eyes, and reef-regulated destinations, but it can leave a cast on deeper skin tones. Modern chemical filters — Tinosorb, Mexoryl, Uvinul A Plus, found in European, Korean, and Japanese formulas — currently offer the strongest long-UVA protection and the most elegant textures. Older US chemical filters sit in between: convenient, but weaker on UVA.
What does PA++++ mean on a sunscreen?
PA++++ is the highest grade on Japan’s UVA protection scale and means the product achieved a UVA protection factor (UVAPF) of 16 or higher in standardized in-vivo testing (JCIA / ISO 24442). Each additional plus roughly doubles measured UVA defense. US labels have no equivalent — "broad spectrum" is a pass/fail claim — which is one reason shoppers who care about pigmentation and photoaging often reach for Asian sunscreens that print a PA rating.
Did the FDA approve any new sunscreen filters?
Yes — on June 9, 2026 the FDA approved bemotrizinol (known abroad as Tinosorb S) via final administrative order OTC000039, the first new US over-the-counter sunscreen filter in roughly 25 years, at up to 6%. But approval is not availability: the order takes effect August 9, 2026, and realistic US product launches are 2027 or later. Through the end of 2026, "modern-filter sunscreen" still means an imported European, Korean, or Japanese formula.
What sunscreen won’t sting my eyes?
The filters most often blamed for eye sting are avobenzone and oxybenzone, with octocrylene also implicated — sweat carries them into the eyes during exercise. The standard fix is a mineral formula (zinc oxide/titanium dioxide) or a chemical formula that skips those three filters. This finder has a "sensitive, sting-prone eyes" toggle that removes every product containing a sting-associated filter from your results.