Our pick is Coola Classic Face SPF 50 Fragrance Free, which Coola says is free from any animal-derived ingredients. For the body, buy Sun Bum Original SPF 50: vegan by Sun Bum’s own account, and certified by Leaping Bunny. Skip Badger’s Sport Mineral SPF 40, which is thickened with beeswax.
Badger makes two zinc oxide sunscreens that look like the same decision. The Sport Mineral Sunscreen Cream SPF 40 has three base ingredients, and one of them is organic beeswax. The Daily Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50 swaps it for sunflower wax and castor wax, and Badger calls it vegan. The brand and the filter are the same, and the verdict is not. A mineral sunscreen is a claim about the UV filter, not about anything else in the tube, which is why our guide to checking whether a beauty product is vegan starts with the inactive ingredients.
Where animal ingredients hide in a sunscreen
A sunscreen splits its work between two sets of ingredients. The actives filter UV. Everything else in the bottle exists to make those actives spread evenly and stay where you put them. The actives are either mineral, meaning zinc oxide or titanium dioxide, or synthetic organic filters such as avobenzone and octocrylene. None of them come from animals.
The vegan question about a sunscreen is therefore almost always a question about the inactive ingredients, the long list in small type under the actives box. That list is where to look for these:
- Beeswax appears on ingredient lists as cera alba or cera flava, and it thickens creams and firms up sticks and tins.
- Lanolin is the wax that comes off sheep’s wool, used as an emollient, and it can also appear as lanolin alcohol.
- Squalane can be made from olives, sugarcane, amaranth or shark liver, and the ingredient list says squalane whichever one it was, so the name alone cannot settle it.
- Carmine (CI 75470), the red pigment made from cochineal insects, belongs to tinted formulas.
- Guanine (CI 75170) gives a pearly sheen, and on a US label the permitted color additive is defined as material obtained from fish scales.
- Collagen and keratin are animal proteins in their usual cosmetic form.
- Shellac, a resin secreted by lac insects, is sometimes used as a film former, and our breakdown of shellac and where it hides covers how to spot it.
- Honey (listed as mel) and milk derivatives turn up in formulas sold as “nourishing”.
Wax is most likely in a stick or a tin, because a sunscreen that holds its shape needs something solid in it, but it turns up in tubes too. Badger’s Sport cream is zinc oxide in sunflower oil and beeswax.
Two words on the front of a bottle also get read as one. Cruelty-free is about testing on animals. Vegan is about what is inside. A bottle can carry either word without the other, which is why the table below lists both, and why a bunny logo on its own says nothing about beeswax.
The seven bottles, from most to least certain
These are ranked first by how much of the vegan question the maker’s own page settles, then by how useful the bottle is once that question is answered. We did not wear any of them or test them on skin. Every claim below comes from the maker’s own product page or help center, read in October 2026, and prices are the maker’s own store prices at the time, which move.
Coola Classic Face Organic Sunscreen Lotion SPF 50 Fragrance Free
Coola’s product page lists this lotion under “Vegan” as “Free from any animal-derived ingredients or byproducts”, and says “We do not test any of our products on animals. And COOLA is PETA certified cruelty-free.” That is a product-level vegan statement from the one party that knows the formula, which is why it leads.
It is a chemical sunscreen, not a mineral one. The actives box lists avobenzone 1.75%, homosalate 5%, octisalate 2% and octocrylene 5%. If you have decided on zinc oxide, this is the wrong bottle however good the vegan statement is. It is also a face lotion at $32 for 1.7 oz, priced like one, and buying it to cover your legs on a beach day is the wrong tool.
The cruelty-free line names PETA and nothing else. If Leaping Bunny is the only mark you trust, go to the Sun Bum or the Pipette below.
Sun Bum Original SPF 50 Sunscreen Lotion
Sun Bum answers the vegan question in its help center, not on the bottle’s page: “Almost all our products are Vegan, with the exception of some of our Lip Balms”, and naming the four balms that contain beeswax. The same page says Sun Bum is certified by PETA and Leaping Bunny. The Original SPF 50 Lotion is not a lip balm, so it sits on the vegan side of that line.
It is the body bottle of the set. The page gives 80 minutes of water resistance and $18.99 for 8 oz, about $2.37 an ounce against the Coola’s $18.82, by our arithmetic. The flaw is fragrance, which is on the inactive list, and the help center adds that the scent is proprietary. If scent bothers your skin, this is not your bottle. And since the vegan statement is brand-wide with exceptions rather than printed on the product page, check the lip balm list again before you buy anything else from the range.
Supergoop Unseen Sunscreen SPF 50
Supergoop’s page marks the new Unseen SPF 50 “Cruelty free & vegan”. It is a clear gel with chemical filters, avobenzone 3%, homosalate 7%, octisalate 5% and octocrylene 9%, and $38 for 1.7 oz, about $22 an ounce by our arithmetic, more than the Coola.
Note the name. The page describes this formula against “the original Unseen Sunscreen SPF 40”, so the SPF 40 tube in an old bathroom drawer is a different formula, and this page’s vegan line covers the SPF 50. No certifier is named next to “cruelty free” in what we read. If you want a mark you can look up, choose the Sun Bum.
Badger Daily Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50
This is the mineral pick. Zinc oxide 25% is the only active, and the inactives are organic coconut oil, sunflower wax, castor wax, vitamin E and coconut fruit extract. Badger calls it “vegan, reef-safe” and cruelty-free on the same page, at $24.99.
Zinc oxide is a white powder, and at 25% you should expect to see it on the skin, so if your skin is deep in tone, try a small amount on your arm before committing your face to it. The bigger catch is the brand’s other sunscreen, below. Buying “Badger mineral” from memory can put the beeswax tube in your basket.
Black Girl Sunscreen Vanilla Crème SPF 30
Black Girl Sunscreen’s page lists Vanilla Crème as broad spectrum SPF 30, water resistant for 80 minutes, cruelty-free and vegan, for face and body, at $18.99. The page also lists white cast among the things it is “guaranteed free of”, which matters if zinc leaves you gray.
Then it says the product is “fragrance free, but contains a naturally derived scent”, a sentence that does not agree with itself. If scent irritates your skin, believe the vanilla in the name over the “fragrance free” on the list. No certifier is named for the cruelty-free claim. And SPF 30 is the lowest on this list, so if a dermatologist has told you to use SPF 50, follow that and put this one back.
Pipette Mineral Sunscreen Lotion SPF 50
Pipette never says vegan on this page, and still answers the question more thoroughly than any other bottle here. Its ingredient glossary gives a source for nearly every inactive. Squalane is “100% sugarcane-derived” and the wax is carnauba, and most of the rest is described as plant-derived. That settles the squalane question, the one the ingredient name alone cannot answer. The page also carries Leaping Bunny certification, and the 6 oz bottle is $23.99.
The flaw is housekeeping. The glossary gives zinc oxide as 20.1% and the Drug Facts panel on the same page says 21%. Neither changes the vegan answer, but a reader comparing zinc strength across bottles should trust the Drug Facts box, which is the regulated label. And without the word vegan, this is our reading of a sourced ingredient list rather than the maker’s claim. If you will only buy a bottle that says vegan, skip it.
Badger Sport Mineral Sunscreen Cream SPF 40
Not vegan. The base is organic sunflower oil, organic beeswax and sunflower vitamin E around 22.5% zinc oxide. It is the bottle the mineral-means-natural shortcut walks you into, and it is on this list so you know which Badger to leave on the shelf.
Side by side
| Product | Vegan, per the maker | Cruelty-free mark named | Filter | Price on the maker’s store | Skip it if |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coola Classic Face SPF 50 Fragrance Free | Yes | PETA | Chemical | $32, 1.7 oz | You want zinc, or a body bottle |
| Sun Bum Original SPF 50 Lotion | Yes, brand-wide except some lip balms | PETA and Leaping Bunny | Chemical | $18.99, 8 oz | Fragrance bothers you |
| Supergoop Unseen SPF 50 | Yes | None named | Chemical | $38, 1.7 oz | You want a named mark or a lower price |
| Badger Daily Mineral SPF 50 | Yes | None named in what we read | Zinc oxide 25% | $24.99 | You cannot test a white cast first |
| Black Girl Sunscreen Vanilla Crème SPF 30 | Yes | None named | Not stated on the page we read | $18.99 | You need SPF 50 or no scent |
| Pipette Mineral Sunscreen Lotion SPF 50 | No claim; ingredients sourced as plant or mineral | Leaping Bunny | Zinc oxide | $23.99, 6 oz | You need the word vegan |
| Badger Sport Mineral SPF 40 | No, contains beeswax | Not checked | Zinc oxide 22.5% | Not listed here | You are vegan |
Who should skip every bottle here
Choosing for a baby or a young child is the first case. Ask a pediatrician which filter and SPF to use before picking any of these, and bring the bottle you are considering so the answer is about that product. Supergoop’s own Drug Facts say to ask a doctor for children under 6 months.
A skin condition is the second. If you have eczema or anything else a doctor is already managing, take the shortlist to your dermatologist rather than choosing from a roundup.
If what you actually want is a tinted sunscreen, none of these is the answer we would give, and tint brings carmine and guanine back into the question. The same label check applies, and the makeup roundup linked at the end is a better starting point for coverage.
How we chose
Every bottle here had to have a maker’s page we could read in full, with an ingredient list or a vegan statement we could quote. Retailer “vegan” filters and app listings did not count, because neither holds the formula. The ranking puts product-level vegan statements above brand-wide ones, and brand-wide statements above our own reading of an ingredient list.
How to check a bottle yourself
The method is short, and it works on the bottle in your hand whether or not it is on this list.
- Find out who is making the vegan claim. A statement on the brand’s own product page beats a retailer’s “vegan” filter, and both beat an app, because the brand is the one holding the formula.
- Check whether the claim covers this bottle or the brand with exceptions, as Sun Bum’s does with its lip balms.
- Turn the bottle over and skip the actives box. Read the inactive ingredients against the list near the top of this article, closest attention to waxes in sticks and tins.
- Treat squalane as a question unless the maker says where it came from, the way Pipette does.
- Read cruelty-free as its own claim, and look for the name of a scheme next to it.
If you want the question settled before you reach the till, buy the Coola for your face and the Sun Bum for everything else. For tinted coverage and the rest of the makeup bag, start with our roundup of vegan drugstore makeup brands.
Sources
- COOLA, Classic Face SPF 50 Fragrance Free: vegan and PETA statements, actives, price
- Sun Bum help center, About Us: vegan statement, lip balm exceptions, PETA and Leaping Bunny
- Badger, Sport Mineral Sunscreen Cream SPF 40: ingredients with beeswax
- Badger, Daily Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50: vegan statement, ingredients, price
- 21 CFR 73.1329, guanine: crystalline material obtained from fish scales
- Sun Bum, Original SPF 50 Sunscreen Lotion: actives, inactives, water resistance, price
- Supergoop, Unseen Sunscreen SPF 50: vegan line, actives, price, Drug Facts
- Black Girl Sunscreen, Vanilla Creme SPF 30: vegan, cruelty-free, water resistance, scent note, price
- Pipette, Mineral Sunscreen Lotion SPF 50: ingredient sources, Leaping Bunny, Drug Facts, price
