DewscopeSunscreen3 min read
Tower 28 SunnyDays Tinted SPF 30 Review: A Gentle Tint, Not a Foundation
A 12.6 percent non-nano zinc oxide sunscreen with a sheer, skin-like tint in 17 shades. It is genuinely gentle and pleasant on sensitive skin, but it covers lightly, can pill, and the shade range is limited at the ends.
Our verdict
A gentle, fragrance-free mineral sunscreen with a sheer tint that evens skin without looking like makeup. It suits sensitive and breakout-prone skin well, and the pump makes dosing easy. It is not a foundation replacement for anyone wanting real coverage, it can pill over damp moisturizer, and at $32 per ounce it costs more than most.
Best forSensitive or reactive skin wanting a light, tinted mineral SPF
What we liked
- 12.6% non-nano zinc oxide as the only UV filter
- Fragrance-free and essential-oil-free, with centella and aloe
- Sheer, natural finish with light to medium buildable coverage
- Pump bottle makes it easy to measure a proper dose
What held it back
- Priced at about $32 per ounce, several times a drugstore SPF
- Light shades lean cool and the range is limited at the deep end
- Can pill or grab if the moisturizer beneath has not set
- Coverage is too light to stand in for foundation
Most tinted sunscreens are sold as the end of foundation. SunnyDays is more honest than that: Tower 28 describes it as a 2-in-1 mineral sunscreen foundation with "light-medium buildable coverage and a natural finish". We read that as a tinted SPF that evens out skin, and we judge it on that basis. Judged that way, it is among the more comfortable mineral SPFs for sensitive skin.
The caveat is price and range, not performance.
One filter, a lot of zinc
The only UV filter is non-nano zinc oxide at 12.6 percent. Zinc is the ingredient dermatologists most often recommend for reactive skin, because it sits on the surface rather than being absorbed, and it is broad spectrum on its own. Non-nano means the particles are larger than the nano range, which is the form many people prefer for environmental reasons.
DermFND's ingredient analysis singles out centella asiatica extract and aloe as soothing counterweights to the dryness a high-zinc formula can bring. It scores the formula 85 out of 100 overall, with ingredient quality at 8.9 out of 10 and value at 8.7. Note the dissent on value: DermFND lists the bottle at $35, which it calls about three times the per-ounce cost of drugstore alternatives. We agree with the arithmetic.
