Last week I mentioned my search for a new facial sunscreen-moisturizer and I described my trial of Pur-lisse’s SPF 30 Pur-Protect Essential Daily Moisturizer, which didn’t quite work for me. This week’s subject: John Masters Organics SPF 30 Natural Mineral Sunscreen.

Just like the everything else in John Masters’s skincare line, SPF 30 Natural Mineral Sunscreen has a nice, clean ingredients list:

Titanium Dioxide (7.5%), Zinc Oxide (5.0%), Aqua (water), aloe barbadensis (aloe vera) leaf juice,* capric caprylic triglycerides, ethyl hexyl palmitate, glyceryl stearate, glycerin, cetyl alcohol, jojoba oil,* shea butter,* panthenol, tocopherol acetate, allantoin, sodium pca, green tea extract,* magnesium aluminum silicate, hyaluronic acid, calendula extract,* ethyl hexyl glycerin, benzyl alcohol.

(The asterisks show the organic ingredients.)

My skin prefers physical sunblock like titanium dioxide and zinc oxide, and it likes aloe and jojoba as moisturizing ingredients; plus, I can always use a little hyaluronic acid for extra hydration. So far, so good.

John Masters’s sunscreen is a scentless, medium-weight cream that needs a little gentle massaging to be absorbed by the skin, but once it’s in, it’s in. I have fair skin, and I don’t see any white residue once I’ve applied it. (Users with dark skin tones might have a different experience.) This product does work well as a moisturizer, satisfying my wish for a two-in-one formula. It makes my face feel soft and protected.

On the other hand, it’s still not my perfect sunscreen-moisturizer, at least not for everyday use. My skin ended up feeling a bit greasy by the end of the day, but I do have a tendency towards surface oiliness, so this wasn’t anything really unusual for me. I was bothered more by the fact that my foundation didn’t wear well over this product, perhaps due to its lack of silicones. I could wear primer over the sunscreen and under the foundation—in fact, my friend Gaia at The Non-Blonde would say that I must wear primer—but without it, at least, I find out how my products really behave on their own.

Basically, John Masters Organics SPF 30 Natural Mineral Sunscreen is a skincare product that I’d enjoy using on a casual neighborhood weekend, or on a day when I’m working at home and wearing minimal cosmetics, or in very cold, dry weather. My skin seems to tolerate it well, and it does what it promises. I just need to find something that will cooperate a little better with my makeup and perhaps stay slightly more matte thoughout the course of a long workday.

John Masters Organics SPF 30 Natural Mineral Sunscreen sells for $32; you can find more information at the John Masters website.

Disclaimer: I requested a sample of this product at Whole Foods.

Image: The Sun by Edvard Munch (1911-16), via Wikipaintings.