Raw Love All-Natural Mineral Sunscreen
Overall
- Ease of Application
- Water Resistant
- Clean Ingredients
- Effectiveness
Details:
Price Range: $$$$
SPF: 35
EWG Rating: N/A
Where to buy: Raw Love site (get 10% off with code KS10), Amazon, some Whole Foods stores
Active ingredient: non-nano zinc oxide (22.5%)
Inactive ingredients:Â cold-pressed unrefined coconut oil, raw shea butter, sesame oil, beeswax, jojoba oil, Vitamin E oil, carrot seed oil, pure essential oils: lavender, peppermint, and eucalyptus
Antioxidants added: Vitamin E, jojoba oil, sesame oil, carrot seed
Scent: Raw Love is a strong scent but extremely pleasant in my mind. The formula uses lavender, peppermint, and eucalyptus essential oils; so if you are familiar with those smells, you can imagine that it’s pure, crisp, and clean. However, note that some people are very sensitive to eucalyptus, and often peppermint and eucalyptus are too strong for little kids. So I wouldn’t recommend putting Raw Love on faces, and be cautious if anyone in your life may have an allergy.
Ease of Application: Raw Love is sold in metal tins, which are some of my favorite delivery systems for sunscreen. It’s easy to dip in your fingers and apply a good amount over a lot of skin, especially with kids who want to get done quickly. Raw Love rubs in well, I would say above average for a zinc-oxide based sunscreen.
Water Resistance: We often use this one at the beach and while swimming, and because there is beeswax in the ingredients, you will definitely see water bead up on your skin.
My Experience: We used Raw Love consistently throughout a summer of travel through the Southern United States. And although we often reached for the tin because it was so pleasant to apply, I am sad to share that it’s probably not as strong as some other brands. There were at least three times where we thought the side with Raw Love in our A/B testing burned slightly worse than the other side (our poor, Northern, white skin was no match for the sun of the South). I do think that Raw Love is a good sunscreen, and it definitely protected from the sun in many instances. However, I would not give it an SPF of 35 as compared to most of the brands we test, which are SPF 30. And quite a number of them beat Raw Love in our side-by-side testing.
Star Feature: There’s a lot to love about Raw Love including: plastic free, totally reef-safe, and goes on smoothly and smells dreamy.
My Review: I wouldn’t hesitate to use Raw Love in most circumstances, but if you really need an SPF you can trust consistently or if you are light-skinned and going to be out for quite some time or in the Southern sun, where the UVA and UVB rays are more intense, I would move up into my top tier and choose another brand. However, bottom line, kudos to Raw Love for doing a really great job with what’s available in Hawaii and for being so eco-conscious and gentle to marine life.
Don’t forget to use code KS10 to get 10% off at the Raw Love site!
Pros
- Very clean ingredients
- Reef-safe
- Water resistant
Cons
- Not the strongest protection
Wondering if this one is the very best natural sunscreen for your family?
I organized alllll the sunscreens we reviewed in each one’s recommendation category – one page, at-a-glance to find out what is safe to buy AND works! Print it or save to your phone for reference!
The guide also includes answers to questions people ask me all the time:
- Which brand rubs in the clearest?
- What’s the best for all day outdoor sports?
- How do I save money on natural sunscreens?
- What looks good on ladies’ faces?
- Is there an option that is FAST to apply to wiggly kids?
I’ll send a copy to your email so you can see it right away and find it again later!