We Tested Tons of Body Sunscreens And These 9 Were Our Favorites (2024)

Our Top Picks

If you’re applying body sunscreen daily, you don’t want it to feel heavy or sticky on your skin. Supergoop’s daily SPF has a lightweight consistency that rubs in easily so it feels like you’re wearing nothing at all—which is why we’ve crowned it our winner.

As its name suggests, Supergoop’s Play Everyday fits into your daily life and makes sunscreen application feel less like a chore and more like fun. It’s formulated for all skin types, including oily skin, and it’s non-comedogenic, so you don’t have to worry about it clogging your pores.

Even better? This sunscreen is available in several different sizes, from a convenient 2.4-ounce travel tube to a giant 18-ounce pump-top the whole family can use. Play Everyday Lotion has a light, fresh aroma of basil, orange, eucalyptus, lemon, and wild geranium.

Key Ingredients: Avobenzone, homosalate, sunflower extract | SPF: 50 | Size: 1–18 ounces | Water Resistant: Yes

Popping into the drugstore to refresh your SPF stash or need to restock while on vacation? Hawaiian Tropic’s Weightless Hydration Clear Spray is easy to find across many retailers, making it one of our most accessible picks. It never felt oily or greasy when we applied it—it felt nice and cool on our body and didn’t drip before we rubbed it in, either.

We enjoyed the ease of application and Hawaiian Tropic’s unmistakable signature scent. The sunscreen is light and watery, easily blending into the skin with no white cast. Some things never go out of style … like a budget-friendly sunscreen from Hawaiian Tropic.

Key Ingredients: Avobenzone, papaya, mango, and plumeria extracts | SPF: 30 | Size: 6 ounces | Water Resistant: Yes

If you’re looking for a mineral sunscreen formula, Blue Lizard is one of the leading brands in the category—and we’re big fans. Their sensitive skin-friendly SPF lotion has a pleasant texture and protects the skin without potentially irritating chemical active ingredients. “This is a good option for those with more sensitive skin, including kids,” Dr. Campbell says. It’s also fragrance- and paraben-free.

Titanium dioxide and zinc oxide are doing the heavy lifting to protect your skin from the sun; the two are most commonly used in mineral sunscreen formulas and provide broad-spectrum protection from UV rays. Blue Lizard’s Sensitive Mineral Sunscreen is also a great choice if you’re traveling, as it’s reef-safe.

While it absorbed quickly, it did leave behind a subtle white cast on our skin (and wound up our dark-colored swimsuit), so it may not be the best choice for darker skin tones.

Key Ingredients: Zinc oxide, titanium dioxide | SPF: 50 | Size: 5 ounces | Water Resistant: Yes

Many tropical travel destinations ask you to use a reef-friendly sunscreen while enjoying the ocean waves to help protect coral reefs. Sun Bum’s Original SPF 30 Sunscreen Spray is our go-to pick for those oceanside days, and every day.

We’re big fans of the coconut-banana scent and lightweight formula, which comes out in a thin, clear mist and quickly soaks into the skin so you can hit the beach faster.

As you’d probably guess given its reef-safe status, this is a water-resistant formula for up to 80 minutes. We gave it a spin during a 30-minute swim and an outdoor run in 85°F heat, and it stayed in place throughout both activities, so it’s a great choice for active days.

The spray formula makes it easy to reapply, especially if you’re chasing after little kids at the pool, beach, or park. Just note that we did find the spray bottle can clog, which can make the application a little trickier after a few uses.

Key Ingredients: Avobenzone, homosalate, vitamin E | SPF: 30 | Size: 6 ounces | Water Resistant: Yes

The French brand La Roche-Posay is known for its sensitive skin-friendly formulations, and this SPF fits the bill. If you deal with redness and irritation from certain skincare products, you may want to try this alcohol-free formula. It’s infused with skin-nourishing ingredients like glycerin and a proprietary antioxidant technology to help fight free radicals and protect skin from the sun.

This spray formula goes on creamy, almost like a lotion, and while it appears very white upon application, it sinks into the skin leaving little to no white cast and a soft, silky feel.

It's a little pricier than its drugstore counterparts, but the SPF 60 protection and spray-lotion formula with La Roche-Posay’s soothing Thermal Spring Water adds a touch of French glamour to your daily sun protection.

Key Ingredients: Vitamin E, La Roche-Posay Thermal Spring Water, glycerin | SPF: 60 | Size: 5 ounces | Water Resistant: Yes

Summer can leave your skin feeling parched, dry, and uncomfortable, especially when chlorine and salt water are involved. Coola’s body sunscreen can restore lost moisture and treat your skin to SPF 50 protection at the same time thanks to its rich, creamy formula.

Coola’s Classic Body Sunscreen is a hydrating formula with a proprietary Plant Protection complex of raspberry seed oil, buriti oil, meadowfoam oil, and prickly pear extract to nourish skin after a day in the sun or a dip in the pool. It’s so hydrating we could even feel it after a post-beach shower, though it may feel too heavy for certain skin types.

If you’re going straight from the beach to dinner or drinks, keep this moisturizing body sunscreen in your bag to lock in lost moisture and stand in for lotion in a pinch.

Key Ingredients: Avobenzone, homosalate, octisalate, Plant Protection complex | SPF: 50 | Size: 5 ounces | Water Resistant: Yes

With a whopping 60+ SPF, this spray body sunscreen will give you excellent UVA/UVB protection with zero white cast—hence the “invisible” name. It feels creamy (but not greasy!) on the skin, though we did have to spend a little extra time rubbing it in versus other formulas on this list.

Because the spray goes on clear and doesn’t leave a white cast, it’s suitable for all skin tones. This sunscreen also wins points for its antioxidant-infused formula, which protects skin from the skin-damaging environmental aggressors we encounter daily.

Key Ingredients: Avobenzone, homosalate, octisalate, octocrylene, antioxidants | SPF: 60+ | Size: 5 ounces | Water Resistant: Yes

With a name like Vacation, you know this sunscreen is going to be good. This “leisure-enhancing” sun care company with cheeky, throwback ‘80s branding has won over fans due to its signature “World Famous” scent, a blend of coconut, banana, pool toys, and swimsuit lycra. (You can even buy a perfume version.)

The sunscreen formula comes in a photogenic white, blue, and yellow tube and applies easily to protect your skin, whether you’re soaking up the sun or jumping off the deep end. Vacation Classic Lotion SPF 50 is ideal for anyone who wants to add a little luxury to their sunscreen experience; the smooth application and nostalgic scent make it fun to wear, even when you’re not swimming up to the pool bar.

However, you may want to avoid this formula if you’re acne-prone; Dr. Campbell notes that there’s coconut oil in the formula, which can clog pores. The tube is also relatively small, so it may not be the best choice for a weeklong vacation or sharing with friends.

Key Ingredients: Coconut oil, aloe, banana extract, niacinamide | SPF: 50 | Size: 3.4 ounces | Water Resistant: Yes

Kopari’s rose gold mist sunscreen gets big props from both Real Simple beauty director Heather Muir Maffei and beauty editor Hana Hong due to its unique shimmer mist format and skin-loving formula. “Sunscreen is so important, but dare I say: Body formulas can get a little boring,” Maffei says. “This shimmery mist with vitamins C and E plus hyaluronic acid delivers such a stunning sheen, I actually look forward to applying it. Shake, mist, and massage into skin (and reapply every two hours) for a sophisticated (non-glittery) glow that smells like coconuts.”

As for Hong, she praises the mist as “fun, easy, and effective” and says it leaves skin glowy without sparkling like a disco ball. “I’m a spray girl all the way when it comes to body SPF, and this nozzle lets the formula soak into the skin quickly and spread around evenly,” Hong shares. “The tropical scent will whisk you away on a sensorial vacation.”

Key Ingredients: Vitamins C & E, hyaluronic acid | SPF: 42 | Size: 4.7 ounces | Water Resistant: Yes