Is Neutrogena sunscreen reef safe?! Is mineral sheer zinc reef-friendly? 🐠 beach travel packing list

Hi there!

So Neutrogena is your go-to brand for everything skin care.

And you’re packing for Hawaii, for a Caribbean cruise, for the Maldives, or for another beach destination that involves snorkeling, scuba diving, or surfing.

You would ideally like to use Neutrogena sunscreen too.

There might be a good reason for you to look for reef-safe sunscreen for your sun protection as you’re thinking about what to wear snorkeling.

And if you love Neutrogena for most of your other skin care products…

Can you go for the trusted name in skin care for your sunscreen too if you are looking to be good to the environment when you go snorkeling?

As they say… they are the “#1 dermatologist-recommended brand” so surely they must have some reef-safe sunscreen too?

Well…

It IS possible to find some Neutrogena sunscreen that’s reef-safe.

That means that there IS a Neutrogena sunscreen product that would be considered the best reef-safe sunscreen when you want to stick with Neutrogena.

So you don’t want to just blindly use any Neutrogena sunscreen.

Now…

First, WHY you should even care about using reef-safe sunscreen.

Then, a couple of the popular Neutrogena sunscreen products, including the one to choose for your snorkeling adventures!

So…

Why wear Neutrogena reef-safe sunscreen at all?!

What’s the big deal about whether or not it’s reef-safe?

There might be 2 main reasons to use Neutrogena reef-safe sunscreen instead of the kind that’s not reef-friendly. (And yes, the same reasons to use Sun Bum reef-safe sunscreen!)

One reason will be if you care about the environment.

The other reason will be if you don’t particularly care about being environmentally-friendly.

1. You want to save marine life in the ocean

There’s a thing that’s become known as “coral bleaching.”

The National Park Service notes that one of the main reasons for this is due to certain chemicals.

These chemicals are found in the popular sunscreen brands and are not considered to be biodegradable sunscreen.

The popular belief now is that when the coral reef continue to be exposed to the harmful chemicals, it’s harmful to the reef, and eventually it causes them to die.

2. You want to be able to snorkel with colorful tropical fish

If it’s not enough for you to protect the environment, then do it do save the beach vacations of future snorkelers and scuba divers!

If you’re headed to a top snorkeling destination like Hawaii or the Caribbean, then basically the coral reef is the whole reason it’s a top snorkeling destination with lots of marine life and turtles to be seen.

The reef is their food, and that’s what attracts them to the top snorkeling spots in the world.

So if the amount of reef (food) available gets less and less, then those colorful tropical fish that makes snorkeling so amazing won’t be there anymore.

For that reason, you can say it can be important for all beach vacationers to work together so everyone can continue to have a memorable tropical vacation!

So with that in mind…

What’s the best Neutrogena sunscreen to buy when you want to protect the ocean environment?!

There are affiliate links below. You should totally check out the reef-safe sunscreen reviews.

There are basically 2 main chemicals that are often cited as most definitely NOT being reef-safe.

The ingredients you want to avoid in Neutrogena products are:

• Oxybenzone
• Octinoxate

And how do you know that these are the worst offenders when it comes to the health of coral reef?!

Because the state of Hawaii is soon going to make it ILLEGAL to sell sunscreen that contains these 2 ingredients. (This happened in 2021.)

These aren’t the only ingredients that have been deemed as not reef-safe.

But it’s safe to say that these are likely the worst offenders based on the Hawaii sunscreen ban as the chosen ingredients to focus on.

Read more on the official word about why the Hawaii sunscreen ban exists.

And even if other snorkeling destinations haven’t banned the sales of any types of sunscreen, it’s still a good idea to wear sunscreen that’s friendly to coral reef! 

So what are the alternative ingredients that are more reef-friendly?

As per the National Park Service, these are 2 ingredients that haven’t been found to be harmful to coral reef:

• Zinc oxide
• Titanium oxide

So…

Is Neutrogena’s Sheer Zinc dry-touch mineral sunscreen reef-safe?!

This is one of the popular Neutrogena sunscreen products.

You see the label…

It’s called MINERAL sunscreen…

And it’s made from one of the “alternative” sunscreen ingredients of zinc oxide…

So that means it must be reef-safe… right?!

In general, know that you should NOT just automatically assume that because it says it’s a “mineral” sunscreen or a sunscreen with “zinc oxide” that it is reef-safe.

One of Sun Bum’s mineral sunscreen products is a good example of this.

BUT…

In the case of this Neutrogena sheer zinc sunscreen, it does NOT contain oxybenzone OR octinoxate.

And that is a GOOD thing.

Remember, these are the 2 ingredients that are a part of Hawaii’s sunscreen ban.

Ingredients for Sheer Zinc dry-touch sunscreen – WITHOUT oxybenzone, WITHOUT octinoxate

aka BUY THIS for the best reef-safe Neutrogena sunscreen

See the ingredients list straight from Neutrogena.

Now, let’s look at Neutrogena’s other popular sunscreen…

Is Neutrogena’s Beach Defense sunscreen reef-safe?

This comes in both lotion form and spray form.

Ingredients for Beach Defense sunscreen – WITH oxybenzone, WITHOUT octinoxate

aka NOT reef-safe sunscreen

See the ingredients list straight from Neutrogena.

And final note…

Check the sunscreen ingredients!

Whether you go for Neutrogena or not, be sure to check the ingredients to confirm.

EVEN if it’s marketed as being reef-safe.

Some sunscreen brands may deem the sunscreen to be reef-safe as long as it doesn’t contain oxybenzone, or as long as it’s made with minerals or zinc oxide.

There IS sunscreen that’s made with minerals but is NOT reef-safe.

Now you know!

HAPPY SNORKELING WITH NEUTROGENA SUNSCREEN!

More things to pack for your beach vacation

• What to wear snorkeling
• What to pack for Hawaii
• What to pack for a Caribbean cruise
• What to wear on a cruise