on the beauty beat: SPF, baby!
It’s summer in the Northern Hemisphere and even if you’re not hitting the beach, chances are you’re exposing more skin to UV rays (yes, even if you’re just driving to the office and running errands on your lunch hour…). I’m super diligent about applying sunscreen to my face, neck and décolleté, but often forget my arms, hands and feet. And even when I remember, it can be a pain to apply a thick barrier sunscreen.
On my most recent visit to the dermatologist (I get a mole check every 6 months due to family history of skin cancer), she urged me to try this Elta MD SPF 45 spray broad spectrum sunscreen. With active ingredients Zinc Oxide (9.3%) and Octinoxate (7.5%) it provides some serious coverage, and isn’t greasy. Shake well, spray and rub in. It dries quickly and invisibly and you’re good to go.
Do you have a favorite sunscreen product?
SPF’d UP!
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Elta MD Skincare also has a fabulous Facial Sunscreen SPF 41 that is lightly tinted. I have been using it for several years and love this product! It is also chemical-free, oil-free, and water resistant.
Great product line!
I use the lightly tinted Elta MD sunscreen too – it’s just right and never irritates. xo
I love spray sunscreen, but most contain alcohol, unfortunately. I use one by Kiss My Face. Good reminder to pay attention to our hands!
I use Elta MD sunscreens also. This line was recommended by my dermatologist. I haven’t tried the UV AREO, but will have to check it out. I use their UV PHYSICAL Tinted SPF 41 on my face and their UV PURE 47 on my neck, arms, and legs. I love that Elta MD is a physical sunscreen rather than a chemical sunscreen.
My favorite is Clarins UV Plus SPF 50 Multi Protection with Broad Spectrum SPF 50 Anti-Pollution Complex. It is supposed to shield skin from harmful UVA/UVB rays, pollution and free radicals.
I like it because it goes on quickly and nicely between the application of a serum and the moisturizer, is quickly absorbed and does not interfere with makeup application.
Sprays are more uniform but I sometimes find the overspray a bit messy.
I would want to try the tinted moisturizer.
Right now Dr. Jart’s Premium BB Cream is my go to during these summer months–it has a SPF 45 as well as collagen
enhancers–anything to save time!
Most important for me, not greasy. This heat wave will give me the impetus I need to try a new product! Thanks for the tip.
Accidental Icon
http://www.accidentalicon.com
I use Paula’s Choice sunscreen, they have a great range of formulas. The mineral types are my favourite, I find they’re good for my sensitive, very burn-prone skin. Happy to hear that you protect your neck and chest, so important. And yes, arms and back of the hands, even if you wear 3/4 or longish sleeves, the wrist area will get sun. And if you have short hair, the tips of your ears can also burn.
Try Intellishade. Fantastic sheer tint coverage with sun block. I buy it through my dermatologist in addition to the tinted Elta which I use if I am going into a lot of direct sun for a longer period. Neither is greasy. After 2 MOS surgeries with a third coming up, I urge everyone to get cozy with sunscreen for themselves and their children and grandchildren!
I love and use Elta MD also–but I use the physical barrier type with titanium + zinc. It’s slightly tinted so you don’t get the ‘ghost’ look. Goes on beautifully. I tend to use non tinted sunscreen on my neck and decollete because I don’t want to stain my clothes. I like the idea of a non greasy sunscreen. I’ve also used the Intellishade and love it as well. My esthetician promises to let me know when she’ll get a new sunscreen that she is loving. On the backs of my hands I frequently use the Sunforgettable mineral powder applied with a brush in a portable small tube that you can throw into your purse.
Growing up in Colorado at 6500 feet I learned long ago to wear sunscreen every day no matter the weather or the season. The past few years as BB creams have become popular I now wear Smashbox BB cream with SPF 35. And I finish my morning routine with Goldbond Ultimate that has SPF 15 for my hands and exposed neck and chest. It’s a necessity!! And I preach SPF protection all the time especially to my younger friends. I’m the generation who were sun goddesses laying out with baby oil and iodine mixed in with it!! No wonder there are so many experiencing melanoma in their 50s and 60s. Practice safe sun!
I find that skinceuticals do a good one and a new one out in France is a spray by Bioderma “eau de soin”
Thanks Susan for the referral to this sunscreen. I’m also crazy careful with my face, neck and decollete… but I do like some color on my arms and just resist using my Jergens Self Tanner!
I like Skinceuticals Physical Fusion UV Defense SPF50, as well as Suntegrity “5-in-1” Natural Moisturizing Face sunscreen SPF 30 – tinted. I like that they’re both oxybezone free.
It’s good to be reminded about our hands, often perched in the sun on the steering wheel! I have accumulated SPF products so my bevy of choices includes Clarins Super Restorative Day Cream with SPF, Christie Brinkley’s new day moisturizer with SPF and most recently, itCosmetics CC cream (tinted, SPF 50). The CC cream is my favorite right now as I like the tint and SPF in one and it’s the lightest ‘foundation’ I’ve come across in a long time. I apply it over a moisturizer and still find patches of flakiness in the 10x mirror that I need to smooth over with more drops moisturizer here and there. Haven’t mastered the art of smooth foundation application -yet.
Like several others above, I vote for SkinCeuticals. I’ve been using it for years now and am very happy. Also, my husband wasn’t able to wear any sunscreen at all, as they ALL would eventually, during the day, “drip” into his eyes and start itching. All of them. But now, with the SkinCeuticals, he is totally happy and applies it every day.
Also, do remember to use every day of the year, not just on sunny or summer days!!!
Plus, as mentioned, hands are so important to cover, esp. when driving.
I am interested in trying the Elta sunscreen. In a great example of bad timing, the very same week I started playing golf last year, (and took up tennis a month later), I was diagnosed with my first basal cell carcinoma. If you play golf &/or tennis in Houston, Texas, you WILL get sun exposure. I coat myself liberally with sunscreen (and wear a hat) but still have a slight tan. One thing I can recommend is spf driving gloves I ordered from Coolibar. I keep them in my car & always wear them when I drive. Not stylish or sexy, but helps keep those delightful brown spots to a minimum!
I will second Paula’s choice. I use tinted sunscreen on my face. I am not as picky with other areas. I use a good broad spectrum spy on my throat, chest, arms and back of hands. I put it on in the morning but often don’t go out to lunch for several hours. I hope it is still working.
I have tried various Elta samples and liked them a lot.
Why not read up on nano particle safety? Many of these high end products use technology to get things like zinc oxide particles very very small (z-cote is one) so they are invisible on the skin. But there is a growing concern that this is going straight into you!! Take a look at ingredients and do a little research. I have been trying other brands and they work fine. Alba makes a good one, kind of greasy feeling but i pat it on then pat with a towel to matte it up a little
I am taking good notes on all of this information on sunscreen. After three days my skin breaks out in a rash on most products I have tried. I currently wear a SPF 50 Lands End shirt when I can to give my skin a break from sunscreen, and use La Roch Posay other times on my skin and face. This combination has worked for me this year. Is Elta MD only available through the dermatologist?
I’m with you, Jeanne– La Roch-Posay Anthelios Ultra Light Sunscreen for Face SPF 45. This is the second year I’ve used it, and as a red head who does NOT tan, I am very happy with this one.
SassyinDC
I have practiced “safe sun” for years following an active childhood in Hong Kong BSC (before sunscreen!). I lathered up my daughters, now 26 and 21, and the older one has porcelain skin as a result of my nagging. I keep a small plastic bottle of Alba body lotion with SPF 15, or a similar one by Eucerin, in my car and use it on the backs of my hands throughout the day. I like Skinceuticals physical block and one that I found at Whole Foods called MyChelle Dermaceuticals Sun Shield SPF 28 unscented chemical-free protection with ZinClear and Titanium Dioxide. This one rubs in easily and leaves no ghostly trace, unlike one by Honest Company that I found at Costco, which states that it has no nano-particles, but is sticky and white and very hard to rub in. Neutrogena used to make a Sensitive Skin sunblock that I think was pure zinc and titanium, but I have been unable to locate that for a few years. It was the only thing I could use if I was in Hawaii, because ordinary sunblocks would make my very sensitive skin break out in a terrible sun allergy. All in all, it’s a lot of work keeping out of the sun! Oh, I do wear hats and either Coolibar or Sun Precautions shirts if I have to be out in the sun for an extended period of time.