If “all-mineral” sunscreen have been a dinner visitor, Butyloctyl Salicylate could be the plus-one they insist belongs. It doesn’t.
I don’t declare to know every part. Removed from it. That’s why I like to put in writing. Writing is considering and considering is how I be taught. One factor I’ve discovered, and stay steadfast about, is my distaste for a really particular ingredient: Butyloctyl Salicylate. Not the ingredient itself, however the way it’s utilized in sunscreens.
Not as a result of my pores and skin can’t tolerate it (it will possibly) or as a result of I believe chemical filters are dangerous (I truly favor them to most all-mineral formulation), however due to the way it’s used to market sunscreens within the U.S.
Should you’re unfamiliar, Butyloctyl Salicylate is what’s referred to as an SPF booster.
In sure formulation, it permits a product to hit a excessive SPF quantity with out relying solely on mineral UV filters.
This isn’t inherently dangerous. What’s dangerous is when manufacturers lean into “all-mineral” or “reef-safe” claims whereas slipping this ingredient into the combination, understanding full nicely it’s technically a chemical filter.
Should you’re a founder, transparency needs to be your default setting.
Inform shoppers what makes your sunscreen good. Don’t cover behind hazy “clear” language or imprecise reef-safe claims. In any other case, you’re not educating. You’re advertising across the reality.
WARE’s SONNY Face Serum SPF 40: My First Eyebrow Increase
I first bumped into this ingredient with a launch from a model referred to as Ware a number of years in the past.
Their SONNY Face Serum SPF 40 listed 2% Titanium Dioxide and 1% Zinc Oxide as actives, but one way or the other claimed SPF 40 and “all-mineral.”
I couldn’t make the mathematics work.
Curious, I despatched the complete ingredient checklist to a beauty chemist with out mentioning the model. The reply got here again quick: the second ingredient after water was Butyloctyl Salicylate. That defined every part.
Whereas the product felt luxurious on the pores and skin, its bodily filter presence was minimal.
And Then I Tried Good Climate Pores and skin’s The One Each day Solar Cream SPF 30
Many months later, I noticed an Instagram advert with an on a regular basis sunscreen person calling The One by G.W.S. the one factor that rivals EltaMD.
With EltaMD’s reformulation already disappointing me, I used to be intrigued — principally the right viewers. Earlier than I might even place an order, the founder generously supplied to ship me a bottle.
I attempted it, favored it lots… after which learn the field. Butyloctyl Salicylate once more, fifth on the INCI checklist. Nonetheless bought and marketed as mineral.
The irritating half? The One comprises 15% zinc oxide and numerous peptides. It’s genuinely good. Now the model calls it “zinc-based,” which — okay. The last word set off? Marie Claire named it Greatest Mineral Sunscreen of their 2025 Pores and skin Awards. Personally, WTF SPF LOL feels extra correct.
Connecting the dots
That’s once I went down the rabbit gap and located a superb breakdown from Dr. Michelle Wong of Lab Muffin.
She explains that Butyloctyl Salicylate is so structurally just like Octisalate, she compares it to similar twins with totally different haircuts.
Technically, it really works in the identical approach as a recognized chemical UV filter.
The important thing distinction? It’s not FDA-approved as a sunscreen filter, which suggests it will possibly slide into formulation as a “beauty ingredient,” boosting SPF with out technically counting as a filter on the label. Click on right here to learn the complete article.
This trick isn’t distinctive to sunscreen
It’s the identical advertising sleight of hand you see exterior of magnificence.
Assume “no sugar added” yogurt that tastes syrupy candy as a result of it’s loaded with stevia.
Or “100%” orange juice that casually contains high-fructose corn syrup. Why? Why does orange juice must be sweeter?
The entrance of the label tells you what you wish to hear.
The ingredient checklist tells you what you’re truly getting.
Final summer season, I used to be quoted within the Monetary Occasions about one among my favourite day by day sunscreens, Le Prunier Plumscreen SPF 31. In the identical piece, dermatologist Sharon Belmo beneficial Colorescience Sunforgettable Complete Safety Face Protect SPF 50 in Bronze, highlighting its advantages as a mineral sunscreen.
Within the feedback, somebody steered solely dermatologists’ recommendation was value listening to and dismissed “magnificence blogger” views. That half didn’t trouble me — what did was the misinformation.
Colorescience constantly markets their formulation as mineral, however most comprise Butyloctyl Salicylate. Whereas some manufacturers name it an “SPF booster,” it’s technically a chemical UV filter that isn’t FDA-approved as a sunscreen energetic.
The Sunforgettable product in query is labeled “all-mineral actives”. Butyloctyl Salicylate is its THIRD ingredient. That is precisely the sort of ingredient that turns a so-called “all-mineral” system into one thing else completely.
Should you’re selecting mineral sunscreen for particular causes — whether or not that’s pores and skin sensitivity, allergy symptoms, or environmental issues — right here’s the half no person talks about.
Manufacturers with massive promoting budgets (Colorescience is owned by SkinMedica, btw) will maintain inviting editors on press journeys, and also you’re not more likely to see this mentioned within the magnificence pages of any journal. So the subsequent time you come throughout a “Greatest Mineral Sunscreen” roundup, take the additional step and verify the ingredient deck your self.
Why it issues
When you have a salicylate allergy, you may react even to a sunscreen labeled “all-mineral.”
And in the event you select mineral-only SPF for delicate pores and skin or environmental causes, you’re not getting precisely what you assume you’re.
When a model demonizes chemical filters but slips this one in beneath the radar, it’s not transparency.
It’s omission. And omission is dishonesty.
So long as FDA doesn’t acknowledge Butyloctyl Salicylate for what it’s, manufacturers that depend on anti-chemical sunscreen advertising will revenue utilizing semi-false claims. It’s that straightforward.
The true query is: if magnificence trade publications/insiders/professionals refuse to acknowledge this, how are we speculated to be taught?
The takeaway
Should you select mineral sunscreen for legitimate causes, verify the INCI checklist.
Search for Butyloctyl Salicylate and determine if that adjustments the equation for you.
I’m not saying these are dangerous merchandise. I’m saying the labeling is selective to the purpose of being deceptive.
What do you assume? Would love to listen to your tackle this.
Have a very good day now. And put on the sunscreen that works for you.
This can be a repost from my Substack. I might love so that you can be a part of me there.
Disclosure: This publish comprises affiliate hyperlinks. If you are going to buy by way of them, I’ll earn a small fee at no additional price to you.
