Mineral Sunscreen Review: Stream2Sea

Details:

Price Range: $$$$

EWG Rating: 3

SPF: 20 or 30

Active ingredient: 6.6% Titanium Dioxide (Non-Nano) [tinted SPF20]; 8.8% Titanium Dioxide (Non-Nano) [sport SPF30]

Other ingredients: Deionized Water, Aqueous Extracts of Camellia Sinensis (Green Tea) Leaf*, Ocimum Tenuiflorum (Tulsi) Leaf*, Alaria Esculenta (Wakame Seaweed)* and Olea Europaea (Olive) Leaf*, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Aloe Barbadensis (Aloe) Leaf Juice*, Cocoglycerides, Glycerin, Cetearyl Alcohol, Cetyl Palmitate, Polyhydroxystearic Acid, Sorbitan Olivate, Cetearyl Olivate, Methylcellulose, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil*, Stearic Acid, Acrylates Copolymer, Magnesium Aluminum Silicate, Sorbitan Palmitate, Tocopherol, Xanthan Gum, Alumina, Benzyl Alcohol, Salicylic Acid, Sorbic Acid. * Certified Organic [sport SPF30]

Antioxidants added: vitamin E, aloe, green tea, and others

Where to purchase: Stream2Sea site, Amazon – Sport SPF 30, Tinted

Ease of application: +/-

Scent: light and clean, very understated

Water resistance: Rated for 80 minutes

My review: I’ve seen Stream2Sea on reef-safe lists and in scuba shops many times, so I was pleased to finally get a chance to test it out. Imagine my dismay when I flipped the tube over to see titanium dioxide only as the single ingredient. Titanium dioxide is less powerful as a broad-spectrum ingredient than zinc oxide, and it’s actually quite rare to see titanium dioxide only without zinc. One potential benefit is that if someone has an allergy or reaction to zinc oxide, this product would come with my highest recommendation. As it is, because there’s no zinc it can’t go in my top-recommended tier right off the bat. But let’s see how it performs.

I hit another disappointment immediately when we discovered that the white body lotion doesn’t really rub in any better than a zinc oxide cream. There’s a definite pasty, white cast all up and down the arm. The texture is nice and pleasant and not sticky. But visually, Stream2Sea leaves a lot to be desired.

Luckily, the tinted version fixes this right up. I felt the tint looked great on both of our complexions. Mine is more olive and my husband’s much more pink and Irish, French-Canadian white. For faces I would highly recommend the tint. And it looked okay on the arms as well.

We tested the original sport SPF 30 and the tinted in SPF 20. Both versions are available in 20 and 30.

While in Sedona, we put the Earth Mama stick on the right hand side of our faces and the Stream2Sea tinted on the left. We had no differences I could ascertain in tan and no burning. It’s kind of interesting that there were no differences though, because we had a good bit of sun and Stream2Sea is only 20 SPF, 6.6% titanium dioxide only. And Earth Mama is 22% zinc, SPF 40. It’s very curious that they showed no difference. I’m really surprised that such a low percentage titanium dioxide performed so well. Stream2Sea has definitely proven itself, both SPF 20 and 30. It performed well; it protects from burns.

We were putting it on out on the trail, not in the mirror. And when I got home, I did have a line of burn that I don’t believe I had the day before on the very top of my forehead, like right below the hairline, like less than a centimeter the whole way across. I think probably either I didn’t rub up that high, not wanting to hit my hair, or my hat maybe rubbed it off somehow. More likely the former than the latter, which would show that both of those sunscreens work really well.