Why to Use Face Sunscreen Daily
Photo by Antonio Gabola on Unsplash
Living in Florida, you already know that sunscreen is important. However are you using it on your face everyday? Did you know that not all ingredients and formulas of sunscreen are equal? We often take for granted that any product labeled SPF is safe and very good to use. In truth, there are some key ingredients that you should always be looking for, no matter if the sunscreen is to be used on your face or your body. Making sure you are utilizing a quality product to protect your face everyday is vital to keep your skin looking young, healthy, and fresh.
What are the benefits of sunscreen?
Helps to maintain an even complexion: by using a facial sunscreen everyday, you are protecting your skin from harmful UV rays that can lead to uneven skin tones. If you are driving a lot, often just the side of your face towards the window can be absorbing those rays creating a different look on that side. If this occurs too much, you may even notice that the side getting more exposure has more fine lines and wrinkles.
Avoid sun burn and tan lines: too much time in the sun can be very painful! This is especially true for your face. Like stated above, when driving the sun is still effecting our skin even though we often do not realize it. When you are out on the water or at the beach, the sun will reflect off the surface causing more intense exposure as well. Using polarized sunglasses is an absolute must, but sunglasses tan lines do not look good on anyone!
Prevent skin cancer: you knew this one already! The biggest point of protecting your skin from those UV rays is to not get skin cancer. This was far more common in the past when sunscreen was not well understood or used, however it is just as real of a threat today as it was in yesteryear. Every shade of skin is able to develop skin cancer, but it is even more susceptible to the fair skin folks, and skin cancer like melanoma is no laughing matter.
Avoid premature aging: have you been looking for the fountain of youth lately? The one in St. Augustine is nice, but using a daily facial sunscreen really can slow down that whole aging process! The sooner you start the better- so tell your kids, grandkids, heck any kid who will listen! that they need to start this daily habit as well. Yes that’s right, one of the best ways to stay looking young and slow down the aging process is to protect your face from the harmful sun by using a sunscreen daily. The sun causes damage like fine lines, wrinkles, sunspots, dryness, and roughness. No thank you!
What are the ingredients to look for in sunscreen?
Mineral sunscreen is absolutely the way to go, but exactly which minerals are we talking about? When reading the labels of potential products to purchase and use, be on the lookout for titanium and zinc as the base. The natural ingredients titanium and zinc, help to form a protective barrier on the skin that reflects the harmful sun rays. Think of this like applying a mirror coating to your face that bounces the UV rays right back off. One of the most important things is that the ingredients be a physical blocker rather than a chemical that absorbs into your skin and then are found to have measurable levels in your blood.
What’s crazy to think about, is that the chemicals that are being put into many sunscreens other than titanium and zinc, are actually causing our coral reefs to die! These same chemicals are absorbed into your skin and are then measurable in your blood. What do you think the long term effect is when you use them on your own skin?! Truth is we don’t actually know, but if something is killing the coral reef, I probably don’t want it on my body and measurable in my blood!
So, what is the best facial sunscreen to use?
At Perich Aesthetics, we are big fans of two skin care lines that both have a fabulous face sunscreen option: Skinbetter Science and Alastin Skincare. Both lines are scientifically advanced to give you the best on the market skin care available today. Alastin offers a tinted or non-tinted option both with broad spectrum SPF of 30+. Skinbetter Science has options addressing the needs of women and men specifically. We would be happy to go over all the options with you to find your best fit.
Additionally, we always think that incorporating what you will actually use is a great choice! There are many great products out there that do combo duty, like makeup with natural ingredient SPF, tinted moisturizers, and regular moisturizers. The key is to use something every morning after you wash that is based with titanium or zinc, rather than some other chemical. If you get in the habit of moisturizing, protecting, and hydrating, you are well on your way to happy, healthy skin for years to come!