This article was originally published in the Sun Care Trend Report. Receive your copy here
Milk has already spilled into a number of beauty formats.
Milk has already spilled into a number of beauty formats, from milky textured toners, such as Rhode’s viral Glazing Milk, to fragrance notes found in the likes of Miu Miu’s Fleur de Lait Eau de Parfum and The Nue Co’s First Milk. Even nails are not immune, with the trend for milky-hued talons continuing to dominate.
Now, sun care is taking the cue, with growing demand from consumers for milky sunscreens, as they seek out formulas that are enjoyable to apply, as well as soothing and even improving skin.
Milk sunscreen was the third biggest trend in sun care according to Spate’s recent report, The US Sun Care & Tanning Landscape for 2026, with year-on-year growth of 849.5%.
Where typical sunscreen formulas provide a thick and creamy texture, milky sunscreens differ with a consistency that is more fluid and lightweight. They also tend to include skin care ingredients, such as niacinamide, hyaluronic acid and ectoin.
The biggest drivers in discussions around the trend on Reddit, according to Spate’s report, are matte tradeoff, irritation and application. Sensitive skin was also found in Spate’s report to be the sun care concern with the biggest increase in growth year-on-year, with 136.5k more posts on TikTok, Google and Instagram in the US in 2025 versus the previous year.
Shiseido’s Anessa Perfect UV Sunscreen Skincare Milk was found to be the product with the most mentions related to the term ‘milky sunscreens’. Indeed, several fellow Japanese brands are also notable in the social media chatter around these types of sunscreen: Bioré, which has a range of milk sunscreen products, and Skin Aqua, with Super Moisture Milk 50+.
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