Ask any dermatologist, skin expert, celebrity, or just any random person about that one skincare ingredient that’s completely indispensable – and they will unanimously declare, it’s the sunscreen! No matter what the weather outside, you should always wear a sunscreen without fail. Earlier, sunscreen formulas used to be greasy, tacky, thick, with a whitish cast and that’s why most of us dreaded wearing sunscreens, but not anymore. These days, sunscreens are designed in different formulas to suit every kind of skin. Most of us wear a sunscreen to prevent tanning but there’s more to this essential skincare product and a greater reason why dermatologists often compulsorily recommend it in their prescriptions – a good sunscreen can prevent premature ageing, age spots, melasma, brown spots, fine lines, wrinkles, hyperpigmentation, and even skin cancer. Skipping a sunscreen while venturing out probably acts as a trigger to a host of skin woes, that’s why we cannot stress enough about why you should be wearing a sunscreen every single day! Now, that we have established wearing a sunscreen is important, the choice of sunscreen depending upon your skin type, quantity, and reapplication is equally essential. Do you know, one should be ideally applying at least half a teaspoon of sunscreen on the whole face to get adequate protection. Another golden rule for sun protection through sunscreen – reapply sunscreen every 2 hours and chose a broad spectrum one. But when we have makeup on, isn’t it a tedious process, washing a whole face of makeup to apply sunscreen, and that too repeat the process every 2 hours! But the importance of reapplying sunscreen cannot be overlooked because the chemical actives that provide protection against the harmful UVA and UVB rays of sun start to degrade sitting on top of the skin and for receiving continued protection against these rays and to prevent premature ageing, tanning, hyperpigmentation, etc., one should always reapply. In this post, we list out different ways to reapply sunscreen without messing makeup.

The Importance of Sunscreen in Skincare:

Sunscreens provide protection against UVA and UVB rays from the sun. UVA rays penetrate into your underlying skin cells to trigger signs of premature ageing such as fine lines, age spots, melasma, hyperpigmentation, brown spots, etc. They have longer waves and can penetrate through just about anything. UVB rays are what you can blame your sunburns on because they have shorter wavelength but are still dangerous and need to be avoided. The easiest way to protect yourself from getting burnt is by using Sun Protection Factor (SPF). SPF acts as a measure to indicate how much sun exposure you can allow yourself before needing to reapply sunscreen. SPF helps protect you from UVB rays.

Every 5 units of SPF equals to 50 minutes of sun protection. So, SPF 15 means 2.5 hours of sun protection. However, more than SPF 50 is usually not recommended unless you have the risk of skin cancer or melanoma running in your family (a doctor is the best person to determine how much SPF is apt for your skin type). SPF 15 blocks 93 percent of UVB rays, SPF 30 blocks 97 percent and SPF 50 blocks 98 percent. Most doctors typically recommend wearing at least SPF 30 for Indian climate. Also, have you noticed how sunscreen labels usually carry the tags “PA+, PA++’ etc.? PA is the abbreviation for “Protection Grade of UVA.” This is what helps block the UVA rays. PA+ is the least protection a sunscreen can provide whereas PA+++ is the maximum. You can chose your PA factor based on how much sun exposure you are allowing on your skin, but do make sure your sunscreen has both good SPF and PA+ factors!.

Now, speaking of types of sunscreens, they can be categorized majorly into two categories:

1. Chemical Sunscreens: They absorb sun rays, working like a sponge, and usually have ingredients like oxybenzone, avobenzone, octisalate, octocrylene, homosalate, or octinoxate. Some people prefer chemical sunscreens because they are lightweight, spread easily on the skin, and come out clear on the skin. However, certain studies have mentioned how oxybenzone and avobenzone get absorbed into the skin and cause skin irritation and even hormonal changes. Certain active ingredients in chemical sunscreens have been found in human blood too and have been known to cause birth defect in in babies, like Hirschsprung’s disease.

2. Physical Sunscreens: These act like a shield on your skin. They bounce off and deflect harmful sun rays by sitting on top of the skin. The most common ingredients found in physical sunscreens are zinc oxide and titanium oxide. These ingredients do not get absorbed into the skin, but they leave a white film/cast over your skin, and that’s the only issue.

How to Reapply Sunscreen Without Messing Makeup:

Coming to our main concern – how to reapply sunscreen every two hours without messing up or redoing makeup. Well, we have compiled below a list of some useful tips that you can try

1. Look for Powder Sunscreens: As we have mentioned previously, sunscreens do not come in tacky and sticky formulas anymore. Powder sunscreens are the latest entrants if you hate that greasy sunscreens that most regular ones leave on the skin. For people who wear makeup, powder sunscreens can be dabbed on top, and the bonus is that they absorb excess oil while doing so. It’s probably the easiest way to touch-up on sunscreen without disturbing the makeup beneath. Our recommendations: Supergoog Invincible Setting Powder SPF 45, Derma E Sun Protection Mineral Powder SPF 50, Paula’s Choice On-the-Go Shielding Powder SPF 50, Jane Iredale Powder Me SPF Dry Sunscreen SPF 30, Peter Thomas Roth Instant Mineral Broad Spectrum SPF 45 Sunscreen, Colorescience Sunforgettable Mineral SPF 50 Sunscreen Brush. The best feature about these sunscreens is that they come with a brush application, hence reapplication is not messy.
2. Compact powders with strong SPF: Physicians Formula Mineral Talc-Free Airbrushing Pressed Powder comes with SPF of 30 and Avene High Protection Tinted Compact has a high protection factor of SPF 50. Wear a good sunscreen underneath, as the first step of makeup, and as the last step and for touch-ups, use such strong SPF pressed powders.
3. Use a tinted moisturizer with SPF: Tinted moisturizers now come in SPF values as high as SPF 50. These tinted moisturizers are easy to apply as well, in dots, and without messing up the entire makeup. Our suggestions: Natio Natural Coverage Broad Spectrum High Protection Sunscreen SPF 20, Natio Tinted Moisturiser SPF 50+, Perricone MD No Makeup SPF 30, Lancome Skin Feels Good SPF 23, NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturiser SPF 30, Tarte Amazonian Clay BB Tinted Moisturiser SPF 20, MAC Lightful C+ Coral Grass Tinted Cream SPD 30, and Bobbi Brown Tinted Moisturizing Balm SPF 25.
4. Use a Sponge To Reapply Sunscreen On Top Of Makeup: Use a makeup sponge that doesn’t absorb too much product, and use it dry. Squeeze in a bit of sunscreen (oil free) on to a dry makeup sponge and place it in a dotting and pressing motion without dragging over rest of the makeup. This way, you can reapply makeup without actually disturbing the makeup underneath.
5. Facial mists with sunscreen: This is absolutely a genius way to reapply sunscreen and to refresh the face – find a facial mist with a good SPF. Just spritz these on every two hours and keep all bad effects from the harmful sun rays at bay. Our recommendations: Pixi Skintreats Sun Mist Broad Spectrum SPF 30, Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Face Mist Sunscreen SPF 55, Dr. Dennis Gross Sheer Mineral Sun Spray SPF 50, Shiseido Ultimate Skin Protection Spray SPF 50+,

Peter Thomas Roth Instant Mineral SPF 45
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