Cetaphil Sheer Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50 for oily skin
High
- HighOily Skin Fit
- HighEffectiveness
- HighSafety
One of the best sunscreens for oily skin.
This fit is calculated for the concerns frequently associated with oily skin: shine, enlarged pores, blackheads, and blemishes. For scores and recommendations based on your full skin profile, including your 12D face scan results and any goals or preferences you have, please use the Lovi app.
Page built Nov 8, 2026How the Fit score works
Lovi Assistant explains
- Highly suitable for your oily skin, this product offers excellent UV protection with titanium dioxide and zinc oxide, which also provide a mattifying effect to address oily shine without exacerbating oiliness.
- The inclusion of Bisabolol and Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract further enhances its suitability by offering soothing benefits, complementing the primary functions for your skin type.
- The safety profile is excellent, with no risks of irritation due to the absence of harsh ingredients and the presence of soothing components.
How to apply
- Apply this sunscreen during your AM routine every single day. Reapply every two hours if you are staying outdoors.
- Apply the sunscreen as the final step of your morning skincare routine after your moisturizer. Allow your moisturizer to absorb fully before putting it on.
- Squeeze a generous amount and pat it gently all over your face and neck. Avoid rubbing the product harshly into your skin.
- Apply the sunscreen directly onto dry skin to ensure it forms an even and protective layer against the sun.
- Avoid getting the product directly into your eyes and stop using it if any irritation occurs.
People Say
★4.3Overall rating based on 3.5k+ reviewsBased on a very large amount of data, this sunscreen is highly recommended by users with sensitive and oily skin for its ultra-lightweight, liquid consistency that dries to a matte finish without causing breakouts or eye irritation. A significant number of users with medium to deep skin tones report a noticeable white cast that requires effort to blend or makeup to conceal.
Highlights
Lightweight matte finish Mostly Mentioned
- “dries down completely matte”
- “feels like nothing on”
- “great for oily skin”
- “non-greasy texture”
Great for sensitive skin Often Mentioned
- “only sunscreen that doesn't burn my face”
- “no irritation or breakouts”
- “doesn't sting my eyes”
Leaves white cast Often Mentioned
- “leaves a purple hue on brown skin”
- “ghostly look on tan skin”
- “takes forever to rub in”
- “not sheer at all”
Liquid consistency Sometimes Noted
- “very runny and spreads easily”
- “thin milk-like texture”
- “blends faster than thick lotions”
- “easy to layer”
Clings to dry patches Sometimes Noted
- “emphasizes dry skin flakes”
- “can feel drying over time”
- “settles into fine lines”
- “chalky finish on dry areas”
Runny texture issues Rarely Noted
- “spills out of the bottle”
- “too watery to control”
- “messy application”
- “leaks if not closed tight”
Sources: lovi.care, ulta.com, influenster.com, iherb.com, target.com, amazon.com, and more
Questions and answers
What makes Cetaphil Sheer Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50 a great fit for oily skin?
This sunscreen is a great fit because its mineral ingredients help cut down oily shine without making your skin oilier. It also includes soothing extracts that keep your skin calm and is unlikely to cause irritation.
Which ingredients make this sunscreen a good fit for oily skin?
Titanium dioxide and zinc oxide make this sunscreen a great fit for oily skin because they provide sun protection while helping to reduce oily shine. Soothing ingredients like bisabolol and calendula extract also help calm your skin.
What does Titanium Dioxide do for oily skin?
Titanium dioxide acts as a physical UV filter that sits on the outermost surface of the skin without clogging pores or making oily skin feel greasy. When used in sunscreens, this ingredient helps protect your face from sun damage while having a very safe profile on healthy skin.
Skin Pharmacology and Applied Skin Physiology, 2001Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology, 2019
What does Zinc Oxide do for oily skin?
Zinc oxide helps calm oily and breakout-prone skin by reducing redness and targeting bacteria that cause blemishes. It is unlikely to cause irritation and may help balance skin oil production.
Where does it go in a skincare routine for oily skin?
This product goes in the morning routine as the final skincare step before makeup. It provides UV protection while helping to manage oily shine.
Can I use this sunscreen with retinol, and in what order?
You can use this sunscreen in the morning as the final step before makeup, well after applying a nighttime retinol. Mineral sunscreens with titanium dioxide and zinc oxide sit safely over retinized skin without adding irritation.
How often should I use it?
Use this sunscreen every morning as the final step in your daytime routine. It is a great fit for oily skin, helping manage shine while providing strong UV protection.
Can it clog pores, cause breakouts or purging for oily skin?
This sunscreen is a great fit for oily skin because its mineral ingredients help control shine without making your skin oilier. It has an excellent safety profile with soothing ingredients, meaning it is unlikely to irritate your skin or clog your pores.
Pharmaceutics, 2021Skin Pharmacology and Applied Skin Physiology, 2002
Is this sunscreen fragrance-free and alcohol-free?
It has no drying alcohol and contains fragrance (benzyl alcohol). Arachidyl alcohol and behenyl alcohol are fatty alcohols, which soften the skin.
What the research says
A multiple W/O/W emulsion containing Rosmarinus officinalis L., Avena sativa L., and Linum usitatissimum L. extracts showed no irritant, phototoxic, inflammatory, or allergenic potential in human skin models and patch tests, establishing its safety as a cosmetic base.
Pharmaceutics, 2021Topically applied Avena sativa and Avena Rhealba oatmeal extracts significantly reduced skin irritation parameters including a* parameter increase and blood flow increase compared to vehicle in 12 healthy individuals subjected to the sodium lauryl sulfate irritation model.
Skin Pharmacology and Applied Skin Physiology, 2002Topical application of tocopherol succinate ethosomal gel decreased erythema, melanin, and sebum levels while improving moisture content and skin elasticity in 34 human women.
Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2024Microfine titanium dioxide does not penetrate human skin when formulated in an oil-in-water emulsion with the pigment dispersed in the aqueous phase, compared to oily dispersions and liposomal encapsulation which allow deeper skin penetration.
International Journal of Cosmetic Science, 2000Replacing microsized titanium dioxide and zinc oxide with nanoparticles in sunscreens eliminates opaqueness and alters UV protection balance while inducing (photo)cyto- and genotoxicity and penetrating viable skin layers during long-term exposures.
Nanotechnology, Science and Applications, 2011Microfine zinc oxide and titanium dioxide do not penetrate the stratum corneum of porcine skin in vitro, indicating that their use in sunscreens does not pose a health risk from internal exposure.
Toxicology in Vitro, 2006Topical 0.5% hyaluronic-ZnO nanogel applied twice daily reduced inflammatory-lesion counts by 58% at week four in human subjects compared to baseline without causing erythema.
Biomedicines, 2025Nels cream achieved a similar reduction in inflammatory and noninflammatory lesion counts compared to 5% benzoyl peroxide in acne vulgaris patients, but caused significantly fewer side-effects such as peeling and dryness.
Clinical and Experimental Dermatology, 2000Topically applied coated and uncoated zinc oxide nanoparticles under flexing and massage are retained in the stratum corneum with no significant penetration into the viable epidermis and no cellular toxicity in human skin.
Nanomedicine, 2016Topical application of an antioxidant serum containing 15% ascorbic acid, 0.5% ferulic acid, and 1% tocopherol prevented particulate matter-induced degradation of extracellular matrix components, inflammation, and oxidative stress in the skin of 15 female volunteers compared to untreated controls.
Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2025Dermatological products containing d-alpha tocopheryl acetate showed non-comedogenic potential with less than a 50% increase in microcomedones in 12 healthy male subjects compared to octyl palmitate.
Contemporary Clinical Trials Communications, 2021Topical application of an antioxidant mix containing 15% ascorbic acid, 0.5% ferulic acid, and 1% tocopherol prevented PM and UV-induced skin barrier perturbation, lipid peroxidation, inflammatory markers, MMP9 activation, and Type I collagen loss in 15 healthy females compared to untreated exposed skin.
Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2024A repair cream containing Rhealba oat plantlets extract, l-ALA-l-GLU dipeptide, and hyaluronic acid provided immediate relief and was judged by doctors as good or very good in 96.8% of cases for wound healing in 2,363 patients following dermatological acts.
Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology, 2018Colloidal oat extracts diminished pro-inflammatory cytokines in vitro and colloidal oat lotion improved skin dryness, scaling, roughness, and itch intensity in healthy female subjects compared to baseline.
Journal of Drugs in Dermatology, 2015Colloidal oat increased the growth rate, metabolism, and lactic acid production of Staphylococcus epidermidis compared to Staphylococcus aureus in vitro, matching clinical increases in lactic acid on dry skin after 6 weeks of lotion use.
Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology, 2021
Ingredients
Titanium Dioxide, Zinc Oxide, Alumina, Arachidyl Alcohol, Arachidyl Glucoside, Ascorbic Acid, Avena Sativa Kernel Extract Oat Kernel Extract, Beeswax, Behenyl Alcohol, Benzyl Alcohol, Bisabolol, Butylene Glycol, Butyloctyl Salicylate, Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Carbomer, Ceramide Ap, Ceramide Eop, Ceramide Np, Cetyl Dimethicone, Chamomilla Recutita Flower Extract Matricaria Flower Extract, Cholesterol, Dimethicone, Dimethicone Peg-8 Laurate, Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate, Disodium Edta, Ethylhexylglycerin, Glycerin, Glyceryl Stearate, Hydrated Silica, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer, Isohexadecane, Maltodextrin, Methicone, Panthenol, Pantothenic Acid, Peg-100 Stearate, Peg-8, Phytosphingosine, Polyaminopropyl Biguanide, Polymethyl Methacrylate, Polysorbate 60, Potassium Sorbate, Propylene Glycol, Sodium Lauroyl Lactylate, Stearic Acid, Styrene Acrylates Copolymer, Tocopheryl Acetate Vitamin E, Triethoxycaprylylsilane, Trimethylsiloxysilicate, Trisiloxane, Vp Eicosene Copolymer, Water, Xanthan Gum
Behind this fit score
Lovi calculates every fit score from the full ingredient list with brand-independent rules our dermatologists and cosmetic chemists build and review, and personalizes every pick with AI trained on the real results of millions of users. Lovi trains its fit score models on a proprietary dataset built from more than 10,000 expert-labeled products and more than 100,000 simulated examples, following an internally consistent methodology presented at Cosmoprof, AMWC, and Skin of Color Update.
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Co-founder, Medical Director
Cosmetic chemist, cosmetologist, aesthetic products developer
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Co-founder, CEO and CTO
PhD in computer science, 3x US patent holder, ex-Google, ex-Yandex
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Dr. Sofía Perea Pérez, MD, MSc
Medical Board
Aesthetic medicine practitioner, MSc in Longevity and Anti-Aging Medicine
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Medical Board
Specialist dermatologist, MBBS, MD, IFAAD
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Medical Board
Cosmetic chemist, SCS, IFSCC member
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Medical Board, Medical Advisor
Dermatology MD
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Elina Nazarenko, MD
Medical Board
Dermatology and diagnostic consultant
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Victoria Derkova, MS
Medical Board
Cosmetic chemist, cosmetic development technologist
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