Active Ingredient: Zinc Oxide 20.6% Inactive Ingredients: Water ●
TL;DR. This ingredient is an inorganic UV filter that helps protect skin by scattering, reflecting, and absorbing ultraviolet radiation. At 20.6%, it is being used as the sunscreen it rather than as a colorant or soothing additive.
What does Active Ingredient: Zinc Oxide 20.6% Inactive Ingredients: Water do in a cosmetic formula?
This ingredient is an inorganic UV filter that helps protect skin by scattering, reflecting, and absorbing ultraviolet radiation. At 20.6%, it is being used as the sunscreen it rather than as a colorant or soothing additive.
Is Active Ingredient: Zinc Oxide 20.6% Inactive Ingredients: Water clean?
This ingredient is widely accepted in clean-beauty frameworks because it is fragrance-free, generally well tolerated, and not associated with common sensitizer lists. Clean-standard friction mainly centers on particle size, inhalation concerns in loose powders or sprays, and the need for good dispersion in formulas.
Is Active Ingredient: Zinc Oxide 20.6% Inactive Ingredients: Water sustainable?
This material is mineral-derived and made through mining and high-temperature processing, so its footprint is tied more to extraction and energy use than agriculture. It is inorganic and does not biodegrade, but it is not a persistent organic pollutant, with environmental scrutiny focused on very small particles in aquatic systems.
Is Active Ingredient: Zinc Oxide 20.6% Inactive Ingredients: Water COSMOS-approved?
It is generally permitted under COSMOS-natural and COSMOS-organic standards when it meets purity, particle-size, and nanomaterial disclosure requirements. From a Green Chemistry view, it scores well for stability and low reactivity, but less strongly on renewability and energy-intensive processing.
How does Active Ingredient: Zinc Oxide 20.6% Inactive Ingredients: Water work chemically?
The molecule is an inorganic metal oxide solid that functions as a particulate UV attenuator, so performance depends heavily on particle size, coating, dispersion quality, and film uniformity on skin. Typical sunscreen use can range from single digits to about 25% depending on jurisdiction and SPF target, and it is stable across normal cosmetic pH ranges but can thicken, settle, or agglomerate without appropriate dispersants and suspension support.
Last updated 2026-05-13