You pull out your phone in the sunscreen aisle. You scan. Red. Poor. You put it back.
Before you do, it's worth knowing what that score actually measured. And what it didn't.
Yuka has over 50 million users. Sunscreen is one of the most-scanned categories on the app. The ratings cause real confusion, because some of the most trusted SPF formulas score in the "poor" range while basic moisturizers score 100.
Here's how the scoring actually works, which sunscreens land at the top, which ones end up at the bottom, and where Seaker sits.
How Yuka Scores a Sunscreen
The methodology is public. Every ingredient gets a risk label: high risk (red), moderate risk (orange), low risk (yellow), or risk-free (green).
The product's score comes from its worst-rated ingredient.
One high-risk ingredient and the whole product scores below 25/100. One moderate-risk ingredient caps it below 50/100. Everything else fills in the exact number within that range.
Two things follow from that. First, it's a presence check, not a dose check. The app doesn't know how much of an ingredient is in the formula. It just knows it's there. Second, one flagged ingredient defines everything. A sunscreen with 15 clean ingredients and one flagged UV filter scores the same as a formula that's full of problems.
That's why the method works well for some product categories and breaks down for sunscreen specifically.
The Best-Scored Sunscreens on Yuka
Yuka publishes a top 10 for the US market, updated regularly. Every product on the current list is built around zinc oxide. Not a single chemical filter in the group.
Here are the top scorers as of mid-2026:
- Blue Lizard Sensitive Sunscreen Stick SPF 50 -- 93/100 (Excellent)
- Pipette Water Resistant Sunscreen SPF 50 -- 93/100 (Excellent)
- Badger Daily Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50 -- 93/100 (Excellent), 6 ingredients
- Sky & Sol Face & Body Sunscreen SPF 50 -- 93/100 (Excellent)
- Coppertone Baby Sunscreen Stick SPF 50 -- 93/100 (Excellent)
- Babo Botanicals Super Shield Sensitive Sun Stick SPF 50 -- 93/100 (Excellent)
- Kopari Mineral Sunscreen Stick SPF 50 -- 91/100 (Excellent)
- Thinksport Zinc Oxide Sunscreen SPF 50 -- 86/100 (Excellent)
- Mustela Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50 -- 79/100 (Excellent)
- Avène Mineral Multi Defense Sunscreen SPF 50 -- 76/100 (Excellent)
And Seaker? We score 93/100. Same tier as the top of the list.
The pattern holds: zinc oxide and titanium dioxide don't trip Yuka's high-risk flags. Short ingredient lists built on simple carriers score highest. Sticks and balms lead the pack because the format requires fewer ingredients to hold together.
The Worst-Scored Sunscreens on Yuka
The sunscreens that score poorly are almost always built on chemical UV filters. The ingredients that trigger automatic low scores:
Oxybenzone. Flagged as a potential endocrine disruptor and environmental pollutant. Banned in Hawaii for reef harm. Any formula containing it scores below 25/100.
Octocrylene. Flagged for potential allergenicity and because it can degrade into benzophenone in old or poorly stored products. Common in photostabilizing formulas.
Octinoxate. Another reef-banned filter, flagged for potential hormonal activity at high concentrations.
Homosalate. Flagged for endocrine disruption potential. Often used in high amounts in SPF 50+ lotions because it takes a lot of it to work.
Mainstream sunscreens from many drugstore brands typically use one or more of these filters and land in the poor range. The score isn't saying the product is dangerous. It's saying one ingredient appears on a watchlist, at an amount the app can't verify.
What the Scores Don't Tell You
The most important thing Yuka doesn't measure for sunscreen: whether it actually protects your skin from the sun.
Yuka doesn't test SPF. It doesn't assess UVA coverage. It doesn't check photostability. A plain face lotion with zero sun protection can score 100. A dermatologist-recommended SPF 50 can score in the red. The app won't tell you those two products are not the same.
The second gap is dose. Every safety standard for cosmetic ingredients is based on concentration. An ingredient that raises theoretical concerns at one level might be perfectly inert at the trace amount used in a finished formula. Yuka doesn't know the concentration. The ingredient list doesn't say "oxybenzone 2%." It just says oxybenzone.
A low score means look closer. It doesn't automatically mean dangerous.
Why Seaker Scores 93
Four ingredients. Non-nano zinc oxide, beeswax, jojoba oil, and vitamin E.
Zinc oxide sits at the top of Yuka's classification. Beeswax, jojoba oil, and vitamin E carry no significant flags. There's nothing in the formula that trips the algorithm.
Shorter lists are harder to flag. That's always been the idea.
One thing worth saying: Seaker isn't a lab-certified SPF product. We don't print a number on the tin because we haven't run the clinical test that certifies one. What's inside is a mineral barrier, in a beeswax base that won't wash straight off, for everyday outdoor use. If you need a certified rating for work or medical reasons, look for that. If you want clean, four-ingredient protection for a day in the water, that's what we made.
FAQ
Why do most sunscreens score badly on Yuka?
Because most use chemical UV filters like oxybenzone, octocrylene, or homosalate that Yuka marks as high or moderate risk. One flagged ingredient drops the whole product into the poor range, regardless of everything else in the formula.
Are chemical sunscreen filters actually dangerous?
Regulatory bodies including the FDA and the EU's Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety have approved chemical UV filters and set concentration limits on each. Some are under ongoing review, but no regulator has concluded they're unsafe at permitted concentrations. Yuka's red flag reflects a theoretical concern, not a confirmed harm.
What's the difference between mineral and chemical UV filters?
Mineral filters like zinc oxide sit on top of the skin and reflect UV radiation. Chemical filters absorb UV and convert it to heat. Both approaches protect. Mineral formulas score better on ingredient apps because zinc oxide and titanium dioxide don't appear on the same watchlists as several common chemical filters.
Is reef-safe the same as mineral sunscreen?
Not necessarily. "Reef-safe" isn't regulated, so any brand can use it. In practice, it usually means no oxybenzone or octinoxate, the two filters most linked to coral harm. Mineral sunscreens built on zinc oxide typically qualify, which is why they lead both the reef-safe category and Yuka's top scores.