I was in the states recently and visited some pharmacies, as one...

I was in the states recently and visited some pharmacies, as one does, for fun.

To my surprise, the mineral sunscreen story is probably even more pronounced that it is here in Australia. I'd say >50% of sunscreens tagged "new" have some form of zinc oxide. There's also greater awareness about chemicals with house brands carrying prominent "oxybenzone free" tags across the front.

Of the big brands, Neutrogena appears to be an early leader in this space. They have some new sub-branding labelled "Purescreen" for their mineral only range. And have also launched "Sheer Zinc" that is positioned to be a like-for-like of their popular "Ultra Sheer" range. These items are getting quite a bit of shelf space.

ANO management has previously stated that Neutrogena has been using Z-cote (distributed by BASF, manufactured by Nanophase) for their zinc powders. However with the evidently expanded zinc oxide range from Neutrogena, and Nanophase struggling with reduced zinc powder demand from BASF - there must be another company picking up the slack!

Could it be ANO or a competitor (e.g. EverZinc)?

https://www.neutrogenamd.com/sun-protection/purescreen
https://www.neutrogenamd.com/sun-protection/neutrogena-sheer-zinctm-dry-touch-sunscreen