Quick Summary:

Date Tested: 08/30/2022

In this Trader Joes Zinc Oxide SPF 30 Mineral Sunscreen Spray review, we find another “eh” sunscreen spray. To be fair though, the spray is an SPF30, so the results are actually ball-parkish compared to other SPF 30 sunscreen I have tested that perform “eh” like. I personally prefer my sunscreen however to have MOAR protection, MOAR blocking ability, and MOAR UV filtering…Don’t mind me because I am drinking a MOARTINI right now (“Moartini” = martini, get it? HA! SIGH). Double sigh.

The Trader Joes Zinc Oxide SPF 30 Mineral Sunscreen Spray is a mineral based concoction which contains Zinc Oxide at 15%. It’s a concentration which makes sense for an SPF 30. Honestly I don’t really understand why anyone would want an SPF 30 except for getting a teeny tiny tan in, but hey, I’m just a lowly sunscreen tester. Aesthetics have no place in my world.

All biases aside, the Trader Joes Zinc Oxide SPF 30 Mineral Sunscreen Spray blocked UVI by 83.35%, reduced UVA by 83.62%, and filtered UVB by 78.87%. Just like my grades in high school, except my senior year where I senioritis’d it and got a 2.8 GPA and got kicked out of UC Irvine before I even attended (yeah that actually happens).

While I’m two drinks in and my stream of consciousness is flowing on the subject of getting kicked out of college before even attending, there is a something I would like to impress upon you my dedicated reader.

Who’s to say what’s good, is good, and bad, is bad (read the story here)? Because of my bad senior grades I ended up not attending UCI and instead attended a community college for 2 years. Afterwards, I transferred with my best friend (at the time) to San Francisco State University. By the time I had graduated, I had learned important life lessons about the world (which is for another post), met lifelong friends, and had met my wife of 16 years (at the time of this writing).

So whos to say what’s good, good, and bad, bad eh? If UCI didn’t pre-kick me out, you wouldn’t be reading this article right now. Trippy right?

Trader Joes Zinc Oxide SPF 30 Mineral Sunscreen Spray characteristics at a glance:

• UVA & UVB protection (Broad Spectrum)
• Fragrance Free
• PABA Free

• Viscosity is a bit on the thin/runny side

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Trader Joe’s Zinc Oxide SPF 30 Mineral Sunscreen Spray 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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UV test results:

Ultraviolet sensor readings:

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

Testing notes:

Alright folks, I think I’ve found something worthy of note about rapid evaporation and sunscreen ingredients. I have tested only 3 sunscreen formulations which have exhibited excessive rapid evaporation during testing. Out of the three, two (Coola Mineral Sun Silk and this one) have the first inactive ingredient as Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice. What does this mean? Does this mean a sunscreen containing Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice is a bad sunscreen? No. It just means that for whatever reason for the two sunscreen which utilize the Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, rapid drying of the formulation might be a feature/bug. Maybe this is what the sunscreen is designed to do? Unsure, but it’s something to keep in mind, I think.

Despite the rapid evaporation of this particular sunblock formula, it still tested adequately, but not anything more than that really. If strong ultraviolet blocking sun protection is what you are going for, I would choose a different sunscreen.