Is Matte Sunscreen for Oily Skin?

By: Margaux Reese
May 21, 2024

Typical sunscreens can often irritate skin, cause breakouts, or make skin look oily and unhealthy, resulting in many people leaving sunscreen out of their daily skincare routine.

Yet, according to the American Academy of Dermatology, approximately 9,500 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with skin cancer every day. With numbers that high it’s vital to protect your skin and avoid the long-term effects of not wearing sunscreen by looking into some chemical-free sunscreens.

Matte sunscreen for oily skin is a type of sunscreen that gives your face a flawless, shine-free look by balancing the grease and oil on your skin. Available for all skin types, but specifically formulated with fast-absorbing ingredients and qualities designed to help those prone to acne breakouts or who have sensitive, sweaty, or oily skin.

Matte sunscreen is the perfect addition to your skincare routine to help shield your skin against environmental stressors, pollutants, and stopping the sun's harmful rays from damaging your skin, without making your face look and feel oily or greasy.

What Is Matte Sunscreen?

Most typical sunscreens are created for people with normal to dry skin and contain a lotion-like texture that is designed to leave your complexion with a dewy sheen. Often with a white finish that you have to work into your skin, dewy sunscreen protects your skin from harmful UV rays by infusing moisture directly into your skin, therefore causing it to gleam and glisten under the sun.

Venn diagram comparing regular and matte sunscreen

While matte-finish sunscreen formulas minimize the oiliness on your skin altogether. These sunscreens typically include oil-absorbing ingredients, like clay, silica, powder, and perlite, to attract the oil to your skin’s surface and absorb it. Thus leaving your skin with a smooth, matte finish that is shine-free and provides an even, velvety look.

Our Picks: Best Matte Sunscreen for Oily Skin

Don’t be overwhelmed by the wide variety of sunscreens available on the market. Here are our top picks for the best matte sunscreen for oily, acne-prone skin.

Sunforgettable® Total Protection® Face Shield Matte SPF 50

Colorescience Sunforgettable® Total Protection® Face Shield Matte SPF 50 is a lightweight, tinted, mineral sunscreen formulated to absorb excess oil, blur the appearance of pores, and shield your skin against:

  • UVA/UVB rays
  • Blue (HEV) light
  • Infrared radiation
  • Pollution

This broad-spectrum sunscreen is safe for those with sensitive skin and a great solution for those looking for hypoallergenic products free of

  • Parabens
  • Sulfates
  • Phthalates
  • Oils,
  • Dyes
  • Fragrances

Created with advanced antioxidants and nourishing, hydrating ingredients, the Sunforgettable® Total Protection® Face Shield Matte SPF 50 leaves skin looking fresh and clean with a matte finish that helps minimize oily skin and ensure long-term skin health and protection.

Matte sunscreen recommendations from Colorescience

Sunforgettable® Total Protection® Sheer Matte SPF 30 Sunscreen Brush

Simplify putting on sunscreen with Sunforgettable® Total Protection® Sheer Matte SPF 30 Sunscreen Brush. This weightless, untinted, all-mineral sheer powder is designed with a convenient, on-the-go application brush made up of antimicrobial bristles. It’s the epitome of easy, smooth, full-coverage protection.

Sunforgettable® Total Protection® Sheer Matte SPF 30 Sunscreen Brush is designed with Enviroscreen® Technology for a hypoallergenic, chemical-free formula that absorbs excess oil from your skin, mattifies it, and minimizes the appearance of pores, leaving skin feeling hydrated, refreshed, and clean.

Benefits of Matte Sunscreen for Oily Skin

If you deal with oily skin, the last thing you probably want to do is add a sheen or dewy sunscreen to your face and add to the excess oil. But skipping out on sunscreen entirely leaves your skin unprotected and vulnerable to damage, premature aging, and even skin cancer.

That's where the benefits of using a matte, tinted sunscreen comes in. The best matte-finish sunscreen for oily acne prone skin not only provides your skin with protection from the harmful UV rays of the sun, but contains absorbing ingredients to help you control the excess grease and minimizes oiliness and shine on your face.

Formulated for a smooth, matte finish that feels weightless and natural without clogging pores, matte sunscreen can be an excellent addition to your skincare for oily skin to give your complexion a clean, diffused, velvety look.

How to Apply Matte Sunscreen

Apply Sunforgettable® Total Protection® Face Shield Matte SPF 50 liberally and evenly to your face. On areas that require additional oil control or any other problem areas, such as the T-zone, simply spot apply as needed. Make sure you don’t forget about the hard to reach areas, such as the back of your neck or behind your ears for full, even coverage and skin protection.

For those with lighter complexions, this neutral beige tint of this formula may be a bit dark for your skintone. We recommend mixing with Total Protection® No-Show™ Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50 to get a more subtle application.

Man applying sunscreen to his face.

For on-the-go protection and continued oil absorption, pair Sunforgettable® Total Protection™ Face Shield Matte SPF 50 with Sunforgettable® Total Protection® Sheer Matte SPF 30 Sunscreen Brush. Using small circular motions, apply generously by sweeping directly onto skin where excess oil is present. Apply continuously for at least 60 seconds to get full SPF 30 coverage.

If you feel like you’ve gone overboard and applied the product too liberally, use clean hands to gently pat off excess. Matte sunscreen works well layered both under and over powder foundation and works best over liquid foundation for desired color coverage.

For the best protection for your skin, you should reapply at least every two hours or every 40 minutes if you are exercising, sweating, or swimming.

How to Maintain Matte Effect When Wearing with Makeup

Certain types of moisturizers and makeup are designed to enhance glow and shine on skin. Great for those with normal to dry skin, but for people with oily skin, it can make your skin appear unhealthy and greasy.

Not to be used instead of sunscreen but to be added to your skincare regime, our Mattifying Primer SPF 20 helps enhance and maintain the matte effect when wearing makeup, control shine, and blur imperfections of oily or blemish-prone skin.

This primer is formulated with ingredients like rice proteins and peptides to build a smooth and even skin tone, extend the time of makeup lasting, and leave skin with a silky, matted finish.

See the Difference of Matte Sunscreen for Oily Skin

See and feel the difference matte sunscreen has on oily skin. Colorescience sunscreens only use pure mineral ingredients that sit on top of the skin creating a physical barrier and ensuring non-irritating, broad-spectrum protection.

With a variety of convenient products you can take on the go with you so you never miss a reapplication, Colorescience ensures the best products and solutions for your skincare health. Shop our mineral sunscreens today.