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Our long national sunscreen nightmare is almost over. Other countries have been doing it right for over 20 years, but now we're catching up. On TikTok, tanned youths are explaining why they no longer wear sunscreen, arguing that natural remedies like antioxidants can replace it. (They can't.)

Hating sunscreen has oddly caught on, but hopefully, that's about to change. I'm a different sort of sunscreen evangelist. Last week at WWDC, I found myself chasing down pastier peers as the sun crept over Apple Park. Did you put on sunscreen? If anyone said no — and many did — I'd tsk and reach into my bag for a tube of Round Lab Birch Juice Moisturizing Sun Cream.

That's because for the past 26 years, American sunscreen has been terrible compared to sunscreens available in the rest of the world. For over two decades, we've been suffering with white casts, sticky textures, and that weird chemical-y smell, begrudgingly rubbing in minuscule amounts that likely fell short of offering the labeled SPF protection. (You need a quarter teaspoon for your face alone!) Meanwhile, Asia, Australia, and Europe have had elegant formulations that not only feel better to wear but are also more effective at protecting skin.

But finally there's good news. Last week, the FDA approved a new chemical sunscreen filter for the first time since 1999. Meaning, at long last, better sunscreens are on the way. The new filter is bemotrizinol, which offers broad-spectrum protection and can help stabilize other sunscreen filters.