Sunscreen Tips

I have to say I'm a sunscreen addict and have been putting sunscreen on my face daily since high school to prevent pre-mature wrinkles. I often see Japanese tourists wearing white gloves in the summertime and thought you know they're probably on to something. My mother had the age spots on her hands lasered off and said it was very painful! So I started wearing sunblock on my hands everyday as well.



Growing up I was partial to using Hawaiian Tropic sunscreen, just seemed like a fun brand with their events and competitions plus I loved the coconut smell! But recently I switched to Neutrogena because they use Helioplex which is a breakfthrough technology in sunscreen protection. Until recently it was only available in Canada and Europe and let me tell you I was already looking into where I could buy it online until Neutrogena annouced they were going to bring it to the US market since it finally got FDA approval. The FDA also created new sunscreen labeling guidelines preventing companies from using the words "waterproof or sweat-proof labels" on their label and instead have to state how many hours someone could be in water. For example it could say 80 minutes until you have to reapply, so make sure you look for that on new sunscreen bottles. But you should be reapplying sunscreen every 2 hours anyways.

Consumer Reports tested sunscreens for their July 2013 issue and found that some products don't meet the SPF claims made on the bottles. First off you shouldn't use anything below 15 SPF  because it won't protect you from skin cancer or aging and anything over 50 SPF isn't any stronger than 50 SPF research has found. The brands with the top scores after testing were: Coppertone Water Babies, Hawaiian Tropic Sheer Touch SPF 30 and Coppertone Sport High Performance SPF 30. Surprisingly Neutrogena Wet Skin SPF 45+ scored poorly.

One of the biggest sunscreen mistakes I see people making is applying sunscreen once they arrive at the pool. For best protection you should apply your sunscreen 30 minutes before you go outside, if you apply sunscreen in the sun it just melts off, it needs time to be absorbed into your skin. Sunscreen bottles should be changed every two years because the active ingredients do expire. These two rules I've been following for years. Don't forget sunscreen for your lips! If you do get sunburned, keep an after sun lotion with aloe at home, my favorite is Burt Bee's. Then do a moisturizing facial mask.

A game changer in the suncreen world is Color Science who makes a  facial powder called Sunforgettable that has sunscreen in it! You might have seen it featured on the Today show last week. If you look at the picture from yesterday's post you'll see I use their Mineral Finishing Powder to absorb oil on my forehead.


No comments