It should not come as a shock to anyone that I am obsessed with sunscreen. It prevents sunburn, it prevents skin cancer, and it prevents aging. Literally what could be better?

But not all sun protection products are created equal—at all. After trying a wide variety of sunscreens and finding what I preferred and what I hated, I landed on Summer Fridays ShadeDrops as being one of my holy grail sunscreens. They’re $36 at Sephora.

Read on to learn why exactly I love this SPF so much.

Why I Love Summer Fridays ShadeDrops

I don’t want to say I’m a Summer Fridays stan because that is not fully true. I think the Jet Lag Masque is good but not fully worth the price it’s charging. But other Summer Fridays products? Yeah, I’m pretty into them. Especially the Lip Butter Balm. That’s a daily must for me (and my free Sephora birthday gift selection too).

Mineral SPF without the White Cast

My standard haul of Summer Fridays SPF from a Sephora sale.

No, I am not the darkest person out there—far from it. But on my skin, I have had many mineral sunscreens look extremely whitening. But I am happy to say that this one from Summer Fridays does not have a white cast on me!

I will plug my friend Julian Sass, PhD, who wrote a good review of this SPF. He’s got a much deeper skin tone than mine and would have a much more relevant review for people with deeper tones than mine.

It has 9.4% zinc oxide and no titanium dioxide (which is usually much more whitening but is often added for a broader spectrum protection). It’s also non-nano if you’re worried about that from either a toxicity or an ecological standpoint.

And a bonus about it being mineral is that there’s no eye sting. And that little detail really makes such a difference for me! Especially as someone who wears multiple layers of sunscreen every single day.

Incredible Texture before Makeup

It’s no secret to anyone that I love to do a no-foundation makeup look. And also very often without any concealer either. So what do I use as a base product? More often than not: Summer Fridays ShadeDrops.

My morning routine usually consists of at least 2 layers of this SPF before I apply my makeup. I apply one layer, then I go do things like walk my dog etc, and then I come back to apply another layer.

I found that this SPF has a nice blurring quality and a semi-matte finish. It’s not dewy at all, and it just makes your skin look really naturally healthy without being oily. I also appreciate that it helps blend my contour, blush, and highlighter out well without being sticky or pill-y,

Ingredients beyond Sun Protection

I like that this is formulated kind of like a moisturizer with other ingredients that offer benefits other than sun protection:

Squalane: I just love this emollient because my skin eats it up and is always so moisturized, soft, and happy with it
Tocopherol and tocopheryl acetate: both of these are antioxidants and also great for soothing the skin at the same time
Urea: Definitely a skincare ingredient that has been gaining more and more traction as of late (from Prequel and Paula’s Choice). It’s great for hydrating and helping remove dead skin cells.
Ethyl ferulate: You know that CE Ferulic? This is a derivative of that ferulic acid and works as an antioxidant, plus keeping the skin soothed when exposed to UV.

That said, the texture is very liquidy. Like it fully drips out of the bottle when you squeeze it. It’s not a moisturizer in terms of texture at all. But it is notably thicker than the Tatcha Silk Suncreen. It’s also slightly thinner than one of my fave Korean sunscreens.

What’s Not to Love about the Summer Fridays ShadeDrops?

Obviously no product is perfect… And we all have our personal preferences. Here are some reasons why people may not want to run out and purchase this SPF.

It’s Only SPF 30

If you want something that is SPF 50+, this is not the one for you. And sadly, I think the trend is that mineral sunscreens hover around the SPF 30-40 range, while chemical SPF can hit 50+ more easily. One of the main reasons for that is the higher concentration of the mineral filters (zinc oxide or titanium dioxide) means a higher concentration of opaque ingredients. So it’s harder to let visible light through i.e. making them transparent/sheer/invisible (however the marketing team wants to address it).

And yeah, you could use one sunscreen with a higher SPF first and then layer this on top. But there are a lot of people who believe a re-application should only be done with the same sunscreen and same filters. So, that doesn’t seem like a viable option.

Thicker at the End

I am a religious shake-before-apply-SPF type of person. But it seems like no matter what, I still end up with a thicker formula when I am scraping the bottle for the last few drops. It’s obviously not a dealbreaker for me, but it is something I notice particularly because it makes the formula more likely to pill when I apply other makeup products on top.

When I open a new bottle of ShadeDrops, I never have pilling happening with the exact same makeup products. However, when I am finishing up the bottle, I often will see pilling (but only when I do 2 layers of SPF and only when I am tapping in my blush etc).

Final Thoughts on Summer Fridays Sunscreen

It’s a big win for me (as someone who has bought many, many bottles of this SPF over the years). One thing I didn’t mention during the review is that I am obsessed with the aesthetic of the bottle too. A rectangular bottle? Love. Easy squeeze nozzle? Love. Smooth screw top? Love.

Who is this SPF good for?

People who like liquidy mineral SPF
People who want to do foundation-free makeup looks
People who shop at Sephora

Who is this SPF not good for?

People who want solely chemical/organic filters
People who want more than SPF 30
People who want a cream/lotion-style SPF

And yes, I’ve gone through so many bottles of this over the years. I usually finish one up within a month! But I stock up during the Sephora sales around the holiday season because it’s 20% off with Rouge and I usually can use my FSA at that time (my FSA is tied to hitting my deductible for my health insurance first). So catch me in a few months buying all of this SPF to set me up for the following year! And yes, I happily keep them on my shelf for a while because all sunscreens are labeled with an expiry date. Thanks, FDA!

Where to purchase Summer Fridays ShadeDrops:

Sephora ($36)
Summer Fridays ($36)
Amazon ($36)

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