Index / Colorescience / Sunforgettable Total Protection Face Shield Flex SPF 50
Colorescience

Sunforgettable Total Protection Face Shield Flex SPF 50.

Colorescience Sunforgettable Total Protection Face Shield Flex SPF 50
Sunscreen

About this product

A tinted, mineral face sunscreen with SPF 50 and 12% zinc oxide that comes in multiple shades and is designed to provide broad-spectrum UV protection while evening out skin tone.

Type

SunscreenPowder

Key actives

NiacinamideVitamin ESPF

Formula notes

Fragrance-freeNo drying alcohol

Full ingredients

Guru Score

80%

Approved

6 experts · Strong agreement
6Gurus
5Approved
1Mixed
0Skip

What the gurus are saying

This tinted mineral sunscreen wins praise for its ability to even out skin tone and work as a makeup primer or foundation replacement, with the shade range letting people match their complexion across seasons. The heavily pigmented formula means applying the proper amount (a quarter teaspoon) on its own can feel too thick, so some prefer layering it under a lighter sunscreen or mixing shades to dial in coverage. Water and sweat resistant for 40 minutes and packed with a blurring effect that softens the appearance of pores, it's become a favorite for those wanting protection without looking like they are wearing sunscreen.
Synthesized from 6 expert reviews · most recent take March 2026
Every take, in full

What the gurus are saying.

Every take we've logged from this product's reviews across YouTube. Click any row to watch the moment they said it.

All takes Approved takes Critical takes Mixed takes Hide sponsored
Approved
"The one I feel is best for me is the Colorescience Sunforgettable Total Protection Face Shield Flex SPF 50, and I use the untinted version. I shake it before applying and use the two finger rule, sometimes applying more in the summer months when I'll be outside for a long period of time. Once it's blended in, believe it or not, it does not leave a white cast on my skin tone. This really has a beautiful formulation. I only use mineral sunscreens, not chemical, because chemical sunscreens tend to really irritate my skin, so I try to stay away from them as much as possible."
All 8 takes from Sincerely Miss Ash
THIS MORNING SKINCARE ROUTINE CHANGED MY SKIN - BEST ANTI-AGING SKINCARE OVER 30
"The one I feel is best for me is the Colorescience Sunforgettable Total Protection Face Shield Flex SPF 50, and I use the untinted version. I shake it before applying and use the two finger rule, sometimes applying more in the summer months when I'll be outside for a long period of time. Once it's blended in, believe it or not, it does not leave a white cast on my skin tone. This really has a beautiful formulation. I only use mineral sunscreens, not chemical, because chemical sunscreens tend to really irritate my skin, so I try to stay away from them as much as possible."
5 SKINCARE PRODUCTS THAT KEEP MY SKIN LOOKING FRESH FOR SPRING & SUMMER- GET COMPLIMENTS EVERY TIME!
"I really love the Colorescience Sunforgettable Total Protection Face Shield, the Flex line, which is tinted. There are four shades to pick from. I have it in the shade fair and medium, and there's two deeper shades than medium. I generally have to mix fair and medium together to get a custom shade because medium is a little bit too dark for my skin tone right now, but come summer I can get away with just medium and maybe one drop of the fair to tone down the darkness of it, and in the winter I'll do more fair with maybe one or two drops of medium to give a little bit more color. Tinted sunscreens are a nice thing to use come spring and summer because they're more lightweight on the skin, they don't give that heavy makeup look, it keeps your skin looking super fresh and youthful, plus you're getting that sun protection. This is all mineral, with a zinc oxide of 12%."
IF I COULD ONLY PICK 1 PRODUCT FROM MY FAVORITE SKINCARE BRANDS | THIS WAS REALLY HARD!
"The next brand is Colorescience, and my favorite product from this brand has to be the Flex line. This is exceptional, the best tinted sunscreen I have ever used, truly. I have the medium shade, I have the fair shade, I generally mix the two if I'm in between shades. For the summer months I'm strictly medium, in the winter I'm mainly fair with a couple of drops of the medium. This helps to even out your skin tone, it adds that nice color and it gives a glowing complexion. It's an SPF 50, water and sweat resistant up to 40 minutes, it's all mineral, and it is beautiful. I've actually been using this as my foundation for the last couple of months, I haven't touched my It Cosmetics CC cream, I haven't touched any of my foundations, this has been my go to. I have more of the medium on today with maybe two drops of the light, and it just gives this perfect glowing complexion. Again, it slightly evens out your skin tone. Is it full coverage? No, you could possibly build it up to that if you put a lot of sunscreen on, but I would say this is more of that light to medium coverage, and then of course I will put blush on top, sometimes bronzer. I just love the complexion that I get when I use this. It comes out white, but when you are applying it to your skin..."
8 HOLY GRAIL ANTI-AGING SKINCARE PRODUCTS I'D PAY DOUBLE FOR | THEY REALLY ARE THAT GOOD!
"Next up is the Colorescience Sunforgettable Total Protection Face Shield Flex. This is a tinted sunscreen, and it's the only tinted sunscreen that I use because it's the only one that actually looks realistic on my skin, and it's the only one that I will use to replace my foundation with because this gives medium to full coverage, and I really love how this gives that nice radiance to the skin as well. There are several shades to pick from. I am generally shade medium in the summer, like when I have my self-tan going on and I'm at my darkest, I wear medium and it's perfect. In the winter, I will wear fair, most of it being fair, with maybe one or two drops of medium in the fair just to give more color, because fair is actually too fair when I'm at my fairest. So I like to have that medium on hand just to add a little bit of color, because I don't bring tinted sunscreens down my neck, I don't want it to transfer onto clothing. So I really try to figure out a way I can make my tinted sunscreen work without having to bring it down my neck, and this is amazing. This is all mineral with an SPF 50. It is broad spectrum with a PA+++++, and it's water and sweat resistant up to 40 minutes, and it has a zinc oxide of 12%."
6 ANTI-AGING SKINCARE PRODUCTS I'M LOVING FOR 2023 | THESE WORK AND I AM SO IMPRESSED!
"I really love this sunscreen, and this one is one of my favorites because not only does it help to color correct, it does help to even out your skin tone. It's great for those no makeup days, just something to even out your skin, just to add a little bit of color. But also if you're someone that wears makeup on an everyday basis, then this is exceptional underneath your makeup. This acts as a makeup primer, I'm telling you, your makeup looks flawless on top of this. I feel like if I have any areas that look like my pores are a little bit enlarged, this does a good job to blur it out, so when I have my makeup on top, my foundation and everything else, my skin looks very airbrushed. This is an SPF 50, it has a PA plus plus plus, it's also water resistant up to 40 minutes, and it has a zinc oxide of 12 percent, so it's 100 percent mineral. This does come in four shades, and this is actually quite nice because it comes out white and as you apply it to your skin you do see that color transfer."
BEST SKINCARE PRODUCTS TO USE UNDER MAKEUP | SERUMS, MOISTURIZERS & SUNSCREEN "AS MAKEUP PRIMERS"
"The last product is a sunscreen, the Colorescience Sunforgettable Total Protection Face Shield, the Flex line, which comes in four different shades. It's 100% mineral with an SPF 50, water resistant up to 40 minutes, has a PA+++, and a zinc oxide of 12%. I have it in the shade fair and also in the shade medium, so when I'm at my fairest I'll use the fair, and during the summer or when I'm self-tanning I'll use the medium, and sometimes I'll even mix the fair and the medium together if I'm in between shades, and I feel like that works really well. This will help to even out your skin tone, it helps to reduce redness if you have that uneven skin tone, but it also acts as a beautiful makeup primer, so you get that longevity with your makeup. You also get this nice radiance, nothing too crazy, not super glowy and dewy, but you do get this radiance so it just looks like your skin but better. It also gives that blurring effect to the skin, so when I put my foundation on top a lot of the pores that I may have look blurred out, so this really does help to reduce on that."
8 AMAZING MINERAL FACE & BODY SUNSCREENS 2025 | TINTED/ NON-TINTED FORMULAS THAT WORK UNDER MAKEUP!
"This has an SPF 50, broad spectrum with a PA++++, and it's water and sweat resistant up to 40 minutes. This also has a zinc oxide of 12%. This is usually my foundation replacement for the summer, and sometimes I will even eliminate foundations in the winter and use this instead. This actually does a very good job to eliminate redness, to actually even out your skin tone. The more you apply, the darker you will become, the more coverage you will get. With this brand I use shades fair and medium, and I mix them together depending on skin tone. In the summer I'm usually strictly medium, and this is the color that I am now starting to wear consistently. But in the winter I am more fair, and I might add one or two drops of medium just to give myself more color, because fair on its own is a little bit too fair when I'm at my fairest. Colorescience has come out with a new shade, shade light, which is in between fair and medium, but I haven't been able to get my hands on that yet."
EVERYDAY SUNSCREEN MAKEUP LOOK | NO MAKEUP MAKEUP TUTORIAL WITH TINTED SUNSCREEN
"I've been loving the Colorescience Sunforgettable Total Protection Face Shield Flex SPF 50. It's mineral with a zinc oxide of 12%, and it's water and sweat resistant up to 40 minutes. This line comes in six shades now, so they have released a light shade as well as a rich deep shade. I wear shade medium when I'm at my darkest, especially in the summer. In the winter, I'm mainly fair with a few drops of medium just to give more color, because fair is actually too fair when I'm at my fairest in the winter. So I do like to have that medium on hand just to add a couple of drops to give some color where everything blends to my neck. I apply a few drops into the palm of my hand and then apply it to my skin in sections. It goes on white, but then it just adapts to your skin tone once you get applying it everywhere. I do go a little bit underneath my eyes with this."
Approved
"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."
All 2 takes from HotandFlashy
BEST Early Black Friday Beauty DEALS!
"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."
BEST DEALS In BEAUTY, CLOTHES, SUPPLEMENTS, HOME | Prime Day 2025
"The Colorescience Flex is a tinted mineral sunscreen that I like a lot. It is the one that changes color but it also comes in shades, and it is 20% off."
Approved
"I have gone through a couple of bottles of it it is a mineral sun screen that I really really love"
All 3 takes from Nipun Kapur
Top 10 Summer Sunscreens | Best Indian Sunscreen | Best Korean Sunscreen | Nipun Kapur
"I have gone through a couple of bottles of it it is a mineral sun screen that I really really love"
10 hour long flight skincare routine + my travel skincare & makeu essentials | Nipun Kapur
"The big change that I do when I'm in the flight is using a mineral sunscreen, so I went in with this color science one, it's a bit tinted so it gives you a nice finish"
Fade Melasma at Home | Best Melasma Products in USA & Canada | CVS, Walgreens, Ulta
"If you want something that gives you more coverage, the Colorescience Sunforgettable Total Protection Face Shield Flex SPF 50 is something I absolutely love. In fact, it is one sunscreen that has changed my whole opinion on mineral sunscreens."
Mixed
"Colorescience tinted mineral sunscreen, how many times have I recommended this product? I used to recommend it all the time and use it myself, but they reduced the amount of zinc oxide down to 12%. I don't understand why, and I really don't know how they're now hitting SPF 50 with a reduced zinc oxide. So it's a shame, Colorescience, because actually so many of us love the finish of this product."
All 2 takes from Dr. Vanita Rattan
BEST & WORST MINERAL SPF50 2024
"Colorescience tinted mineral sunscreen, how many times have I recommended this product? I used to recommend it all the time and use it myself, but they reduced the amount of zinc oxide down to 12%. I don't understand why, and I really don't know how they're now hitting SPF 50 with a reduced zinc oxide. So it's a shame, Colorescience, because actually so many of us love the finish of this product."
BEST & WORST Acne Solutions: DOCTOR V Reveals
"Moving on to SPF 50, I love mineral sunscreens, zinc oxide, because they're anti-inflammatory. So if you want a tinted sunscreen, I would say go for the Colorescience Sunforgettable Total Protection Face Shield Flex SPF 50."
Approved
"It's not as expensive as it is for the face. I think they don't put in as many vitamins, antioxidants, and so on."
Approved
"I already used Colorescience but now these are the more tinted versions, the Flex. I use the light and the medium and I kind of mix them one to one, a little bit goes such a long way. I don't really use these as sunscreen, I'm using it sort of as like my foundation for today."
All 3 takes from Dr. Sam Ellis
Skincare Mistakes I Will NEVER Make Again as a Derm | Dr. Sam Ellis
"Colorescience has their Flex range with a fair, a medium, and a tan shade, and you can mix those together because it's the exact same sunscreen formula with just slightly different tints, and the company has okayed it and says that it doesn't mess with their formula."
GRWM Skincare & Makeup Routine: Sharing Our Trip to Japan (Tokyo & Kyoto) | Dermatologist
"I already used Colorescience but now these are the more tinted versions, the Flex. I use the light and the medium and I kind of mix them one to one, a little bit goes such a long way. I don't really use these as sunscreen, I'm using it sort of as like my foundation for today."
Dermatologist Shares Best Mineral Sunscreens for Your Skin! (Tinted & Untinted) | Dr. Sam Ellis
"The face shield flex is an SPF 50 mineral sunscreen, much more heavily pigmented than the original. If you try to wear it on its own using the proper amount, a quarter teaspoon of product for your face, it's going to be too thick and too heavily pigmented. So I like to layer it: I put one full layer of the original color science on my skin as my protective layer, and then I mix in equal parts a little bit of the fair shade of the face shield flex and the medium shade, and that's what gives me really good coverage. This is probably one of my favorite ways to wear makeup in the summer but still be super protected. I also like that it's water and sweat resistant. If I was going to a pool party and I actually wanted to look cute, this combo of sunscreens is what I would wear."
Common questions

Frequently asked.

What is Colorescience Sunforgettable Total Protection Face Shield Flex SPF 50?

A tinted, mineral face sunscreen with SPF 50 and 12% zinc oxide that comes in multiple shades and is designed to provide broad-spectrum UV protection while evening out skin tone.

Is Colorescience Sunforgettable Total Protection Face Shield Flex SPF 50 worth it?

Mostly yes. 5 of the 6 gurus who reviewed it give it their stamp of approval, for a Guru Score of 80%.

What is Colorescience Sunforgettable Total Protection Face Shield Flex SPF 50's Guru Score?

Colorescience Sunforgettable Total Protection Face Shield Flex SPF 50 holds a Guru Score of 80%. That is our read on how warmly the experts talk about it, based on the verdicts of 6 independent expert reviewers we have collected.

Spend less, score well

Cheaper alternatives the gurus rate.

Lower-priced sunscreens the gurus still rate highly, versus this mid-range pick.

See how they stack up →
You might also like

Similar products worth a look.

Other products the same gurus have weighed in on, plus more from this brand and category.

Compare side by side →

This week's top beauty news, in your inbox.

A weekly read of the takes worth catching up on: the raves, the splits, the ones the gurus won't shut up about. Free, no spam, unsubscribe whenever.

Subscribe to the digest