Suncreen Showdown

I think the first fancy facial sunscreen I ever tried was La Roche Posay Anthelios. It was nice, and it’s still featured in magazines pretty frequently, but last summer I went with Elta MD UV Clear, which is thicker and creamier, and doesn’t run down your hand when you squeeze it onto your fingers. It was great, though it doesn’t vanish into your skin as quickly. It has zinc oxide, which makes a physical barrier instead of a chemical one, which means… it’s going to take a minute.

I wasn't sure what kind to go with this year. Last February, before all the magazines started talking about the newest kinds of sunscreen, I bought a bottle of Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Liquid SPF 70 to wear while I was on vacation in St. Lucia. I’d heard good things about it, and since it was about $15 cheaper than La Roche Posay or Elta MD, I figured it was worth a shot.

It was fine, it seemed like it did the job as well as La Roche Posay, even if it took a little while to absorb. I figured that small inconvenience was worth saving fifteen bucks.

Then, this summer, right before I left for (slightly less glamorous) Ocean City, New Jersey, I read about a new sunscreen from L’Oreal. Well, new to the U.S. anyway. It was one of those products beauty editors allegedly stock up on when they are in Europe or whatever. L’Oreal Sublime Sun SPF 50 “Liquid Silk Sunshield for Face.” It sounded much nicer than the Neutrogena stuff I had.

The day before I left for my trip, I stopped by Duane Reade to see if they had the new L’Oreal sunscreen line. I feel like 95% of the time, when I read about something, it’s months before I can find it in a store. But I found one bottle! On the wrong shelf, turned sideways. For some reason, that made it even more exciting.

Now that I’ve tried both, for a week each, I feel like I can give you an accurate comparison.

We All Scream For Sunscreen

 

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it eleventy times: The only safe tan is a fake tan. We all need to wear sunscreen, pretty much all the time. It’s important to find something you like, and if you have yet to find products that work for you, Sephora will let you try 17 of them for $30. And they’ll throw in a reusable train case! It’s kind of an amazing deal. (They value it at $193.) Even better, 100% of the net proceeds will benefit the Skin Cancer Foundation.

Sun Tan Lotion

Did you hear about this? I’ve been a fan of Jergens Natural Glow for years, among other gradual tanning lotions, but now they’ve added SPF! It's called Jergens Natural Glow & Protect. Now your “safe-tan” will be even safer!

Headline

As I mentioned yesterday, I’m vigilant about protecting my face from the sun. But what’s holding my face on my body? Is that important too? Well, it's my head, and most of the time I consider it to be important and useful. Let's put it this way: I certainly wouldn’t want to be without it! Here are the things I use to protect my head, and it’s parts, on the beach.

Sticky Sunscreen

You might have heard me say that the only safe tan is a fake tan. You might have read my posts about self-tanners and bronzers. You might remember that I always sit under an umbrella, wearing a hat.

Well.

Sunscreen Powder is, Presumably, Better Than Nothing

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.

Tinted Moisturizer Showdown

I’m fairly certain you all haven’t gone out and bought yourselves airbrush makeup systems, though I continue to be obsessed with mine. One of the things I was researching before getting addicted to the airbrush was tinted moisturizer, and I still needed to find one to use for low-maintenance days and summer travel.

Zits & Wrinkles: The Best of Both Worlds

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the Dr. Dennis Gross Alph Beta Daily Face Peel, which works great, until you stop using it. I found it too expensive for long-term use, so I decided I would follow up my treatment with Murad Live Clear Acne Complex Starter Kit for maintenance.

Sunblocky When Wet

As I mentioned yesterday, I am just dying for summer to get here. I mean, I love spring and all, and if spring wanted to go ahead and be springy one day soon, that would be awesome. But it seems like what spring really loves to do is toy with our emotions by being warm/freezing sunny/hideous. (Spring, stop being such a JERK!) So I’m looking beyond spring, to a hot and sunny summer.