Quick Summary:

Date Tested: 05/30/2022

In this review, I test the Tizo Ultra Zinc Tinted SPF 40 Sunscreen. Two words stood out when I looked at the bottle packaging, “Mineral,” and “Tinted.” Hmmm. A tinted AND mineral sunscreen you say? A few questions flashed in my brain – Is the tint to make pasty white skin Europeans look sun kissed and tanner than they really are? Is the mineral term displayed up front to tout the formulas effectiveness as a safe and natural non-toxic panacea for the damaging rays of the sun?

I really had/have no idea.

What I do know (when it comes to sunscreen), is that the entire realm of sunscreen really is as much about marketing as it is about well, sunscreen. Take the CeraVe AM Moisturizing Facial Lotion (which has an SPF30 as an afterthought) as a case in point. It clearly is a sunscreen, but the product webpage and packaging touts its benefits as a facial moisturizer. It wasn’t like CeraVe decided to add sunscreen properties to the concoction as an afterthought either. It contains 5 active UV blocking agents!

Sunscreen marketers really seem to work to position themselves apart from the multitude of other similar products by targeting certain sale words. In this case, “tinted,” and “mineral.”

In my own opinion much of it really just boils down to how effective the formula is and whether or not it feels nice when applied. That said, lets get down to the details.

The Tizo Ultra Zinc Body & Face Tinted SPF 40 reduced the UVI by 81.35%, reduced UVA by 81.65%, and reduced UVB intensity by 75.06%. For an SPF 40, I expect a tad more from the UVB blocking ability, but overall it aint bad because “tinted,” and “mineral.”

The Tizo SPF40 characteristics at a glance:

• Broad spectrum SPF 40
• Inorganic sunscreen classification
• Photostable, will not degrade in sunlight and reef friendly
• FREE of chemical sunscreen filters, dyes, fragrances, oils and preservatives
• Viscosity is slightly runny

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TIZO Ultra Zinc Body tinted UV blocking test results

Ultraviolet light quick reference:

UVA: The Ultraviolet wavelength from 315nm – 400nm. The “Aging UV light” – Causes wrinkles.
UVB: The Ultraviolet wavelength from 280nm – 315nm. The “Bad UV light” – Causes skin cancer.
UVI: The global sun UV index. The more a sunscreen can reduce the level of UVI, the better.

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Tizo Tinted SPF 40 UV test results:

Ultraviolet sensor readings:

Want to know more about how I test sunscreen? Head here to read about the details.

Testing notes:

This bottle of sunscreen is something of an enigma to me. It costs a lot of money for something that really doesn’t perform exceptionally well. It contains quite a high amount of Zinc Oxide active ingredient (at 20%) to warrant an SPF 40 rating, but only blocks about 75% of UVB. It would probably perform even worse when used in the way most people apply sunscreen. What it has going for it I think is that it is tinted, so it probably blends into the skin pretty well if the tint matches a persons skin tone. I get that aesthetics do matter, but do aesthetics matter more over the initial reason for the products existence (sun protection)? Maybe, maybe not. Thats up for the consumer to decide I suppose.

Apart from the aesthetic benefit of being tinted however, the $43 for 3.5oz really doesn’t sit well with me (you could buy 28 Costco hot dog combos for that price!). But then again, this is why I started testing sunscreen in the first place. Price alone cannot guarantee a products performance, and quantity/number of active ingredients cannot guarantee that performance either.

If I was going to spend a day at the park on a first date and put my best face forward (see what I did there??) and needed a general amount of sun protection, I guess I could see the value in a product like this… I would put a hat on though.