Mineral vs Chemical Sunscreen Sunscreen is important to protect your skin from any skin damage . UV light can damage your skin tissue and leads to skin cancer. Mineral and organic sunscreen are two different types of sunscreen based on its ingredients. It is important to understand the differences between mineral and chemical sunscreen. Each type of sunscreen has a different way to protect your skin. The ingredients of mineral sunscreen (zinc oxide and titanium dioxide) are small particles that will sit on the skin’s surface. Mineral sunscreen ingredients reflect the UV rays away from the skin. On the other hand, chemical sunscreen ingredients (oxybenzone, avobenzone, etc.) penetrates the top layers of the skin to absorb the UV rays into the skin. Once the UV rays absorbed, the chemicals in the sunscreen create a chemical reaction in which UV rays are converted to heat. ...