Raw Elements Tinted Moisturizer Review 2020 | Zero-Waste Daily Moisture and SPF
We tried Raw Elements Zero-Waste Tinted Moisturizer for a week -- here's what we thought.
The Top Line:
Raw Elements tinted moisturizer with SPF (also available on Amazon) is a zero-waste, mineral-based SPF that is formulated for light to medium skin shades. With only one tint color option, and a consistency that feels heavy, we only recommend this tin for travel. It’s an ok all-in-one if you are traveling to the beach and want a sunscreen that is marine-life friendly, skips the silver sheen, and is packaged in a zero plastic tin. We will not add this product to our everyday routine, but we will gladly bring it on our next diving trip or outdoor adventure.
Originally published 23th Feb 2020.
Update 15 June 2020: We have been in a cabin in the woods for a week and packed this tinted sunscreen. We like throwing it on our face right before walking outside because we know our skin is protected against the sun immediately and do not have to wait 20-30 minutes like chemical sunscreens.
The Breakdown:
Cost & Products: $17.99 for one tin.
How ‘Clean’ Is This? Ingredients are pretty clean, including zinc oxide, green tea, coffee beans, and hemp seed oil.
Packaging: Zero-waste packaging - comes in a metal tin with no plastic components. Metal tin can be recycled.
Purchasing & Shipping: You can buy Raw Elements in a few places, but to support a concerted effort to transitioning into plastic-free (and because we wanted a bunch of other plastic-free items), we got ours from Package-Free Shop. Also available at REI and Amazon.
Website at Package Free was nicely designed, but navigation could be a bit simpler. The products we ordered arrived in less than 48 hours. Shipping was free and there was no plastic in our box: just small, recyclable or compostable paper. Shipping is free over $25.
Good to Know: Package Free Shop generally do not accept returns. They cite that excess returns cause even more trash to hit the environment. We get it, but please note to do our research before purchasing.
Coupons: Right now, ‘MAKINCHANGES’ gets 10% off.
What’s Your Impact? Unless you use tetracycle, there is a no great way to recycle most skincare or packaging. Your usage is going to be different, but we moisturize daily and we use between 4 and 6 bottles of face moisturizer per person per year. That’s 4 to 6 plastic bottles that do not need to be produced.
Additionally, since this is a topical sunscreen, the reefs are happy.
The Efficacy:
Context: Moisturize and SPF everyday (that Cali sun). I have combination skin (oily T-zone and dry cheeks), which still generates acne once in a while. I use foundation sometimes, which I mix in with my moisturizer and each or both may have an SPF factor of 30. This combo of waste-free, topical, tinted sunscreen moisturizer sounded like the silver bullet I was looking for, except….
So, like most topical sunscreens, this one feels heavy. No matter how much blending we did, the feel of the moisturizer will not quite go away.
After a few uses, the application got easier and more streamlined.
The pigments in the tin are not 100% blended, so if you’re not careful, you could end up with a small streak, but overall it was easy to avoid the streak.
Running on the pale-medium end of the spectrum (but olive undertones), the color of this moisturizer was o-k. We read reviews that ladies with medium brown skin claimed that this color worked really for them, and anyone darker than medium was unhappy with the results. Given how sheer it ends up being on the skin, we think having 3 different depths of color would be really helpful.
It doesn’t quite “feel” as moisturized as our normal liquid moisturizer yet we feel the product on our face. It’s a conundrum.
Unlike all other zinc oxide sunscreens, this tin will NOT give you that grey ghost-like look, given its tint. We liked that.
The Cost:
Context: We think one tin contains about the same number of uses as an average drugstore brand of tinted moisturizer.
Raw Elements Tinted Moisturizer with SPF | $17.99
Pai Skincare Chamomile & Rosehip Calming Day Cream | $60
Beauty by Earth Reef Safe Tinted Sunscreen | $17.99
Neutrogena Radiant Tinted Moisturizer with SPF | $12.99
Honest Beauty Tinted Moisturizer with SPF | $21.99
Money Report: Raw Elements is in line with typical drugstore brands that are tinted mineral sunscreens. Neutrogena was the only cheaper option in our lineup. Pai was the closest to a zero waste that had the trifecta we were looking for: moisture, tint, and SPF, but it was crazy expensive. Price: great.
The Good:
✔ Limited ingredients, mostly derived from natural sources
✔ Limited packaging - a big reduction in plastic when it comes to products we use very regularly (we go through between 4 and 6 moisturizers per year)
✔ Lightweight means less energy is used in shipping the product from manufacturing facility to your home
✔ Color is somewhat sheer so you can layer
✔ Price is very comparable to drugstore brands
The Bad:
✗ Feels heavy throughout the day
✗ A bit more labor intensive to put on versus our old tinted moisturizers
✗ Bacteria from your fingers can fester in the tin
✗ Only one color, light to medium (fairer and darker shades probably won’t suit)
Our Recommendation:
Should you buy Raw Elements? Only as a tinted, reef-safe, travel sunscreen that skips the grey sheen. We wanted this product to work so badly, but for day to day use, it’s just not practical. However, we will definitely be packing it when we go on our beach or diving trips and want to look cute. The packaging won’t leak (screw top), the tint offers us some color, and the sunscreen is safe for marine life.
We're on a mission to reduce our personal carbon footprint with small, hopefully easy, changes in our home to fight against climate change. This means we're looking for products that may be all natural, ideally zero waste, reusable or compostable -- while still being affordable!
