Everyone knows you need to reapply sunscreen every few hours or after swimming. But it recently came to my attention that that goes for non-beach/pool related activities as well, such as walking around town on a sunny day. EEK! That’s my favorite kind of day to walk around town! I sort of just figured my SPF20 daily face lotion would take care of that, but really, that protection is gone after a few hours, just like regular sunscreen! Because it IS.
I was actually on vacation in the Virgin Islands, ON THE BEACH when I swore off tanning. I had brought along some fashion mags and one of them turned out to be, secretly, entirely devoted to sun safety. It had all these stories from girls in their 20s and 30s who were melanoma survivors, or who were still fighting it. Anyway, since then I’ve been all sunscreen-hat-umbrella. I do not, however, wear a shirt in the ocean.
I don’t want skin cancer, or any cancer, and I also don’t want wrinkles or brown spots. So when I realized I was leaving my face unprotected, I needed to figure something out. On the beach it’s fine to just put on more sunscreen, but for regular days I needed something that would work on top of makeup.
I started reading about mineral powders with SPF that you can just brush on top of your existing makeup whenever you need more protection. (Which we have learned is every few hours.) There are both pressed powders and loose powders available. I wanted to get a pressed powder, but all the ones I found have pigment. I just wanted something clear. There are quite a few kinds of loose powders available with no color. I almost got Bare Minerals Mineral Veil, which I used to use before I decided mineral makeup made me look older (but poreless!) Instead I went with Peter Thomas Roth, because it was on sale and I like the all-in-oneness and portability. I had also read good things about it in magazines, which doesn’t really mean anything.
Peter Thomas Roth Instant Mineral SPF 30 is one of those brush/powder combos where the product is in the handle and shoots up through the brush. Those kinds of things have a high risk of leaks, but are always tempting because they seem so convenient. I was also tempted by the sale price of $12 (regularly $30) offered by Sephora right now.
The brush feels super-chintzy. I think my nieces have nicer “play” makeup brushes. As with any cheapo brush, you can expect a bristle or two to fall out on your face when you use it. The powder is transparent to the point where you’re not even sure that it’s there or not. (I had to fluff the bristles around a bit to make sure there was product coming out.) But that’s a good thing. I don’t want to look powdery and I don’t want anything interfering with my makeup.
As for efficacy, it’s anyone’s guess. I’m not willing to attempt a sunburn for one of my make-pretend science experiments. Plus, everyone’s skin is different. All I know is that it was $12 and I’m going to keep it in my purse this summer for sunscreen touch-ups. Possibly in one of those fun electric safari zipper bags, just in case it decides to explode.
I was JUST thinking about this very problem today. I'm always hearing YouTube makeup people say "and of course reapply sunscreen every 3-4 hours" and I'm like, "WHAT?! I'm supposed to take all of this off and put more on 4 times a day?!" This makes more sense.
ReplyDeleteI used this all weekend, and it seems like it works pretty well. I used it for touch-ups for myself, and on my husband because he continuously went out without wearing any sunscreen. Neither of us got burned, and I haven't had any problems with powder leaks or explosions.
ReplyDeleteI did end up putting on makeup and sunscreen twice a day though, because it was so hot (and we were out riding bikes etc) that I ended up needing a second shower before going out at night.