The sunscreen ingredients recommended most by dermatologists are zinc oxide or titanium dioxide because they will reflect the sun rays and won't absorb into the skin. Those are the only two physical sunscreens. Anything that is NOT either of those two are automatically chemical sunscreens. Although those ingredients are not always recommended depending on who you talk to, they aren't all bad and can be used safely. However, one ingredient that is commonly recommended to avoid is Oxybenzone. Oxybenzone is an chemical sunscreen that is very unstable when it absorbs light and and quickly lead to cell damage and free radical conversion which can result in premature aging, skin damage, and possibly skin cancer. I normally always avoid buying any sunscreen with that ingredient in it, which is hard because it's a common ingredient found in most sunscreens because Oxybenzone is such a cheap ingredient to produce. Yes, higher quality sunscreens typically cost a little more because they use alternative ingredients.

This was so helpful Volta! Thanks so much. I am so fair and I wear sunscreen every single day so this is very important to me. I checked the products I currently use and they contain zinc oxide and titanium dioxide, not oxybenzone so that gives me some good piece of mind. Again, thanks for sharing your knowledge with me.