HotandFlashy knows her sunscreen. She has worked through 32 of them on camera, ending up with 18 approvals, 11 mixed takes, and 3 skips. Her Guru Score for the category sits at 56%. The products she loves share one quality: you genuinely cannot tell you are wearing them.
What does HotandFlashy recommend in sunscreen?
What she keeps coming back to is finish. She wants a sunscreen that dries down fast, sits matte or near-matte, and does not make pores or fine lines look worse. The Geek & Gorgeous Zero Feel SPF 50 is the clearest example: she called it the first sunscreen she had ever worn without needing powder or makeup on top. Dr. Jart+ Every Sunday Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50 earned similar praise because it smooths skin like a primer and helps makeup last longer. She also rates tinted options highly when the shade is wearable, pointing to IT Cosmetics Your Skin But Better CC+ Cream SPF 50+ and Live Tinted Skin Tint SPF 50 as ones she can put on and simply go. The Colorescience Sunforgettable Total Protection Face Shield Flex SPF 50 made her top-ranking mineral list a few years running. Three products she has reviewed earned her explicit winner label: Neutrogena Pure Screen Mineral UV Tint Face Liquid, CeraVe Invisible Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50, and DRMTLGY Physical Tinted Moisturizer SPF 44.
In her words
"I discovered an amazing new sunscreen that I'm absolutely in love with, the Geek and Gorgeous Zero Feel SPF 50. It has a PA++++ rating, which means it's the highest UVA protection. This is the first sunscreen I've ever tried that I could put on my face and not have to do anything else, just go about my day without looking weird. With every other sunscreen I've tried it's either a white cast, the tint doesn't match me, it's super shiny, it makes my pores look huge, it feels super greasy, I need to powder it or put makeup over it. It comes out of the tube basically white, rubs in quickly and easily, and dries down to the most beautiful finish that just looks like your skin. It's an amazing sunscreen, I absolutely love it, and it plays really well with makeup."
"One of my very first loves in makeup, it's an all mineral SPF 50 makeup, it is amazing."
"This is an awesome brand. This one is just ever so slightly darker of a tint than the other, but it does blend in with my skin tone really well. I can just put this on and go. It does have a bit of a luminous finish as well."
"This is Banana Boat Light as Air SPF 50. I love this sunscreen. If you've always hated putting on sunscreen because it feels heavy, feels greasy, makes you hot, give this a try. It's super lightweight, really nice formula, dries back really quickly. You just don't feel it on your skin, you don't see it on your skin, it doesn't settle in your wrinkles."
"This is one of my favorite sunscreens of all time. It's an SPF 50 plus and it's a plain white sunscreen, not tinted. It does leave the slightest paler cast on me but it pretty much rubs in and is almost invisible. The things that really make me love this sunscreen so much is that it dries down, it's really lightweight, it doesn't feel greasy, it sets and it's not super shiny. It actually has a nice matte finish so it doesn't accentuate my pores and texture. The other thing about it is that it's very primer-like, so if you're someone who uses a primer to disguise your pores and texture I'd recommend just this because it really does smooth my pores, smooth out my skin and just make my makeup go on so beautifully over it. It actually helps my makeup to wear a little bit longer."
"The Colorescience Sunforgettable Total Protection Face Shield Flex SPF 50 was a top ranking sunscreen in my mineral sunscreen testing videos a couple years ago."
How many sunscreens has HotandFlashy reviewed?
HotandFlashy has reviewed 32 sunscreens, for a Guru Score of 56%. 18 approved, 11 mixed, and 3 skipped.
What has HotandFlashy skipped in sunscreen?
The three products she skipped all failed for the same reason: they never dried down. Blue Lizard Sensitive Sunscreen SPF 50 stayed greasy after 20 to 30 minutes and left a white cast that did not budge; she scored it zero out of five. Colorescience No Show SPF 50 went on wet and oily and still left a visible white cast, which she noted was a particular problem for something marketed as 'no show'; another zero out of five. Haruharu Wonder Black Rice Moisture Airy Fit Daily Sunscreen SPF 50 did not leave a white cast, but she found it made her foundation settle into her wrinkles faster and shortened how long her makeup lasted. If staying power under makeup matters to you, those are the three she would steer you away from.
"This is a white thick lotion. It goes on feeling super heavy, super greasy, and it has a really strong white cast that doesn't dissipate even after 20 to 30 minutes of dryback. And I'm putting dry back in air quotes because this never dries back. It stays greasy feeling. I gave it a zero out of five as a sunscreen."
"Colorescience No Show SPF 50 is PA+++, retails for $45 for 1.7 oz. It's a white liquid lotion that feels wet and oily going on. It spreads well and there are no problems in the hair. It does leave a white cast, so for something that is called no show it does show. I give it zero out of five."
"I used a chemical sunscreen one day, my Haru Haru Wonder, and my foundation looked even worse at five hours over that sunscreen. That one I don't love under makeup, I feel like it makes my foundation settle into my wrinkles more and makes my makeup wear off a little bit faster."
What should you take from HotandFlashy's picks?
HotandFlashy's record on sunscreens is genuinely useful for anyone who has struggled to make SPF work with makeup. She approves products that behave: light, matte, and invisible. She skips the ones that stay wet or greasy, and she says so clearly, with scores to match. If you are looking for a place to start, her three named winners are a good shortlist.
Watch HotandFlashy say it
Every verdict here comes from a video. These are the moments themselves, each one jumping straight to the bit about that product.
- Neutrogena Pure Screen Mineral UV Tint Face LiquidNamed a winnerWatch at 16:23
- CeraVe Invisible Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50Named a winnerWatch at 19:00
- DRMTLGY Physical Tinted Moisturizer SPF 44Named a winnerWatch at 18:14
- Blue Lizard Sensitive Sunscreen SPF 50Skipped itWatch at 4:19
- Colorescience No-Show Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50Skipped itWatch at 3:52
- Haruharu Wonder Black Rice Moisture Airy Fit Daily Sunscreen SPF 50Skipped itWatch at 7:58
- Geek & Gorgeous Zero Feel SPF 50Rated itWatch at 10:08
- IT Cosmetics Your Skin But Better CC+ Cream SPF 50+Rated itWatch at 12:40
- Live Tinted Skin Tint SPF 50Rated itWatch at 18:30
- Banana Boat Light as Air SPF 50Rated itWatch at 16:38
- Dr. Jart+ Every Sunday Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50Rated itWatch at 16:44
- Colorescience Sunforgettable Total Protection Face Shield Flex SPF 50Rated itWatch at 19:40
- Kopari SunscreenRated itWatch at 5:07
- DRMTLGY Luminous Eye Corrector SPF 41Rated itWatch at 4:12
- ISDIN Eryfotona Actinica SPF 50Rated itWatch at 16:32
- CeraVe Hydrating Mineral Sunscreen SPF 30Rated itWatch at 10:50
- Abib Airy SunStick Smoothing BarRated itWatch at 6:52
- RMS Beauty Sun Coverup Super Tint SPF 50Rated itWatch at 5:03
- Supergoop Glow Screen Sunscreen SPF 40Rated itWatch at 15:12
- EltaMD UV AOX Elements SPF 50Rated itWatch at 12:27
- DRMTLGY Matte Universal Tinted Moisturizer SPF 46Rated itWatch at 11:21
About this expert
See everything HotandFlashy has reviewed
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This guide reflects what HotandFlashy said across their videos about 32 products in sunscreen, aggregated by The Guru Index. Sponsored takes are excluded. The Guru Score is our read on how warmly they talk about them. It is general information, not medical advice.