I went to the skincare goddess, Caroline Hirons for information and came away with a treasure trove. Basically, SPF is an active ingredient and so it can counteract other ingredients. For example, Caroline was talking about how expensive face creams have SPFs as an "added bonus.' But having this in the cream effectively overtakes any other active ingredients. So, you should just use your expensive face cream without an SPF and then apply a separate SPF as well. Most of these products only protect you from UVB and not UVA. IE, you won't burn but you'll still get wrinkles because your collagen is being broken down.
Right, so now we're on the dedicated SPF train, yes? Obviously, you want to protect all of your skin from the sun. But, as your face is in contact with UV Rays for a majority of most people's days it's really important to protect this skin. A lot of people don't like wearing sunscreen on their face because it's generally thought to be greasy. Nowadays there are tons of facial sunscreens on the market that are oil-free and geared towards people who want to wear makeup on top.
I've been using the Clinique Super City Block (SPF 40) recently, and I love it! It comes out tinted, but virtually disappears on the skin, just sort of colour correcting a bit. I've been wearing it alone with just a bit of concealer (because my skin is looking great thanks to the Glossier Supers). Obviously tinted products like this are sort of a turn-off since they aren't generally a match for everyone. This, though, is like the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants in a tinted sunscreen. I, a pale ghost around NC15, can use it but so can my coworker Bianca who is a NC45! We've yet to try it on Janay who is darker, but I'll update once we have. It also solves the whole white/grey cast issue since it's tinted. This contains antioxidants as well which boosts the SPF by protecting your skin cells from free radicals!
Obviously this isn't going to be something that I see immediate results from, but I feel much better knowing I'm protecting my skin. In the long run, using an SPF is one of the only things that helps keep signs of aging at bay!
Do you guys use a dedicated sunscreen? Let me know what products you love!
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