Tower 28 Beauty SunnyDays Tinted SPF 30 Versus Summer Fridays Sheer Skin Tint

Tower 28 Beauty SunnyDays Tinted SPF 30 Versus Summer Fridays Sheer Skin Tint

What's inside

Key Ingredients

Benefits

Concerns

Ingredients Side-by-side

Zinc Oxide 12.6%

Water

Isononyl Isononanoate

C9-12 Alkane

Butyloctyl Salicylate

Polyglyceryl-6 Polyricinoleate

Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride

Glycerin

Ethylhexyl Methoxycrylene

Trimethylsiloxysilicate

Mica

Polyglyceryl-2 Isostearate

Sodium Chloride

Phenoxyethanol

Disteardimonium Hectorite

Polyglyceryl-3 Polyricinoleate

Polyhydroxystearic Acid

Coco-Caprylate/Caprate

Isostearic Acid

Lecithin

Polyglyceryl-6 Polyhydroxystearate

Jojoba Esters

Ethylhexylglycerin

Sodium Phytate

Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Water

Centella Asiatica Extract

Opuntia Tuna Fruit

Salvia Officinalis Extract

Iron Oxides

CI 77891

Zinc Oxide 12.6%, Water, Isononyl Isononanoate, C9-12 Alkane, Butyloctyl Salicylate, Polyglyceryl-6 Polyricinoleate, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Glycerin, Ethylhexyl Methoxycrylene, Trimethylsiloxysilicate, Mica, Polyglyceryl-2 Isostearate, Sodium Chloride, Phenoxyethanol, Disteardimonium Hectorite, Polyglyceryl-3 Polyricinoleate, Polyhydroxystearic Acid, Coco-Caprylate/Caprate, Isostearic Acid, Lecithin, Polyglyceryl-6 Polyhydroxystearate, Jojoba Esters, Ethylhexylglycerin, Sodium Phytate, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Water, Centella Asiatica Extract, Opuntia Tuna Fruit, Salvia Officinalis Extract, Iron Oxides, CI 77891

Ethylhexyl Palmitate

Isododecane

Diethylhexyl Carbonate

Isohexadecane

Polyglyceryl-4 Diisostearate/Polyhydroxystearate/Sebacate

Polymethylsilsesquioxane

C13-15 Alkane

Sodium Hyaluronate

Squalane

Niacinamide

Centella Asiatica Leaf Extract

Tocopheryl Acetate

Tocopherol

Persea Gratissima Oil

Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract

Carthamus Tinctorius Seed Oil

Glycine Soja Oil

Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil

Silica

Alumina

Magnesium Oxide

Propylene Carbonate

Zinc Stearate

Boron Nitride

Sodium Benzoate

Potassium Sorbate

Caprylyl Glycol

Titanium Dioxide

Water, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Glycerin, Isododecane, Diethylhexyl Carbonate, Isohexadecane, Polyglyceryl-4 Diisostearate/Polyhydroxystearate/Sebacate, Polymethylsilsesquioxane, Trimethylsiloxysilicate, Sodium Chloride, C13-15 Alkane, Sodium Hyaluronate, Squalane, Niacinamide, Centella Asiatica Leaf Extract, Tocopheryl Acetate, Tocopherol, Persea Gratissima Oil, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Carthamus Tinctorius Seed Oil, Glycine Soja Oil, Ethylhexylglycerin, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, Silica, Alumina, Disteardimonium Hectorite, Magnesium Oxide, Propylene Carbonate, Zinc Stearate, Boron Nitride, Sodium Benzoate, Potassium Sorbate, Caprylyl Glycol, Phenoxyethanol, Titanium Dioxide, Iron Oxides

Reviews

Alternatives

Ingredients Explained

These ingredients are found in both products.

Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.

Disteardimonium Hectorite comes from the clay mineral named hectorite. It is used to add thickness to a product.

It can also help stabilize a product by helping to disperse other ingredients.

Hectorite is a rare, white clay mineral.

Ethylhexylglycerin is created from glycerin. It is a multitasker ingredient that:

The CIR Expert Panel found minimal skin absorption or sensitization of any kind in a safety assessment. Though this ingredient is considered well-tolerated, a small number of cases of allergic dermatitis have been published since 2002. Just be sure to patch test if you are unsure.

Industry-reported use ranges from 8% in rinse-off products and 2% in leave-on formulations.

Glycerin (or glycerol) is a compound naturally found in your skin. It's a powerhouse humectant that pulls water into the stratum corneum.

Topically, glycerin does several things at once:

Your skin makes glycerin on its own (mostly from sebaceous oil breakdown) and shuttles it to your outermost layer of skin, or your epidermis, via aquaporin-3.

Aquaporin-3 is a transporter that is essential for normal skin hydration, elasticity, and repair. Interestingly, mice lacking in AQP3 have dry and less elastic skin that can be fully corrected with glycerin.

This ingredient is non-irritating, plays well with almost every ingredient, and works across all skin types. Typical use is anywhere between 3-10% but can go up to 79% in some leave-on products.

Just know very high concentrations (>40%) can feel tacky in low humidity.

Glycerin is the name for this ingredient in American English. British English uses Glycerol/Glycerine.

Phenoxyethanol is one of the most widely used preservatives in skincare (and for good reason!).

It has a large spectrum of antimicrobial activity and especially effective bacteria, yeast, and mold while only having a weak effect on your skin's natural microbiome.

On a cellular level, it disrupts the cell membranes of microbes by poking holes that make the cell leak. This shuts down the chemical reactions the microbe needs to make energy so it can no longer survive.

Another perk of this ingredient is that it stays functional across a wide pH range (3-10).

You'll often see it paired with boosters like Ethylhexylglycerin; one study showed that a 1:9 ratio of Ethylhexylglycerin to Phenoxyethanol damages bacterial membranes as effectively as doubling the Phenoxyethanol concentration on its own.

Typical use concentrations range from 0.3-1% depending on the formula, and this ingredient is capped at 1% int the EU.

Safety-wise, the fear mongering does not hold up to the evidence. The EU's Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety and FDA consider it safe as a preservative at up to 1%, including for children of all ages.

Adverse systemic effects only showed up in animal studies at exposures roughly 200x higher than what people get from cosmetics. And despite its very widespread use, this ingredient is a rare sensitizer and allergic reactions are uncommon.

Chances are, you eat sodium chloride every day. Sodium Chloride is also known as table salt. This ingredient has many purposes in skincare: thickener, emulsifier, and exfoliator.

You'll most likely find this ingredient in cleansers where it is used to create a gel-like texture. As an emulsifier, it also prevents ingredients from separating.

You might see people debate whether Sodium Chloride is comedogenic, but there actually haven't been any comedogenic tests done on it. Either way, the overall formulation of a product matters a lot more than any single ingredient.

You might see this ingredient used in scrubs as a primary exfoliating ingredient.

This silicone is an emollient. Emollients create a thin film on the skin to prevent moisture from escaping.

It is not soluble in water and helps increase water-resistance in products.

According to a manufacturer, it can blend seamlessly with silicone oils, such as Cyclopentasiloxane.

Water. It's the most common cosmetic ingredient of all. You'll usually see it at the top of ingredient lists, meaning that it makes up the largest part of the product.

So why is it so popular? Water most often acts as a solvent - this means that it helps dissolve other ingredients into the formulation.

You'll also recognize water as that liquid we all need to stay alive. If you see this, drink a glass of water. Remember to stay hydrated!

This ingredient is a combination of red, black, and yellow iron oxide pigments. This combination of colors is usually found in foundation, because it results in a "skin" color.

The EU typically uses CI numbers for colorants when applicable, such as CI 77489. In the US, iron oxides are regulated as color additives and "iron oxides" is the most commonly used name in US cosmetic practice.

A 2021 paper looked at skincare formulations containing iron oxides and found that they reduced transmission of blue light when measured optically. In simple terms, the pigment particles helped block or scatter part of the visible light spectrum in lab testing and the authors suggest this could translate into better protection against blue-light-related skin effects.

There is also clinical and experimental research showing that tinted products containing iron oxides can reduce visible light-induced pigmentation:

Please note, whether a product reduces visible or blue light depends on things like:

In the EU's CosIng database, iron oxides are only listed as a colorant. CosIng groups ingredients by their main cosmetic role, such as colorant, preservative, or UV filter.

Though studies say iron oxides can "attenuate blue light", they're describing an optical property and not an officially recognized cosmetic function.

So CosIng isn’t contradicting the research. It’s just classifying iron oxides by what they officially are: pigments that add color.

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