Mindy Kaling Says She 'Wasn't Educated' on Sunscreen Growing Up But Now She Swears by This SPF (Exclusive)

Mindy Kaling has a new MVP (most valuable product) on her vanity. 

Last week Kaling, an investor in and ambassador for skincare brand Lion Pose, along with its founders Madhu Punjabi and Nisha Phatak, introduced Ghost-Buster Broad Spectrum SPF 42, a non-nano zinc oxide SPF which was clinically tested on women of color to ensure there was virtually no unsightly cast.

Kaling — who’s got a double counter top covered with products she’s constantly putting to the test — says the formula is a win. “It does not leave an ashy white cast on my skin. I think they nailed it,” the actress-producer, 44, tells PEOPLE exclusively.

Kaling is also proud of the fact that Ghost-Buster is a multi-tasker. The vegan formula also contains antioxidants to protect from free radical damage and squalane to hydrate throughout the day. 

Kaling admits her sunscreen journey is recent. She only started using it regularly in her thirties. 

“Growing up, I wasn't educated about sunscreen. I thought it was just for White people. I didn't think I needed to worry about it, and I would have relatives who were like, ‘That's not a concern we have to have because we have dark skin.’ So that's just something I believed.” 

As a result, “sunscreen wasn't something I even thought about or used until I was into my thirties,” Kaling says. Then while working on The Mindy Project, the actress’s makeup artist told her otherwise, and it changed the course of her routine.

Partnering with Lion Pose has helped her skin in more ways than one. 

“A lot of the products that are really trendy that everyone else loves make me break out or don't deal with my issues, which [include] hyperpigmentation and keloid scarring,” Kaling shares.

“When Madhu and Nisha reached out to me a couple of years ago about becoming involved in the brand somehow, it was the first time I met someone in the beauty space were [also] Indian dealt with exactly the same thing.”

As impressive as the duo was, Kaling knew the proof was in the product. “So I tried their [debut product] Unspotted [an exfoliating serum] and I loved it.”

Now, the self-proclaimed “unabashed beauty lover” says that if her skin could talk, “it would probably tell you that it's happy with me,” she says. 

Kaling wears many hats in the entertainment industry. She’s still coming around to the fact that she’s also a beauty boss. 

“I think that one of my good qualities is I really know how to identify people who are good at their jobs and let them do their thing. So I love that they asked me my opinion about how we should roll the product out, how the packaging should look, how I'm personally liking the product,” she says. 

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Kaling is big on giving credit where it’s due. “[Madhu and Nisha] have hired an amazing team. They work with dermatologists who are both women of color. One is Indian, one is Black. And their knowledge, it’s pretty incredible.”

“In my line of work, I just get incredibly excited when I meet talented heads of different departments and things like that. And, I get that same excitement when I see the team. I'm like, ‘Oh, they know exactly what they're doing.’ If anything, they're the skincare bosses, but I feel happy to be adjacent to them."