Does Makeup With Spf Really Work

Ask a Beauty Editor: Do You Withal Need Sunscreen if You Vesture Foundation With SPF?

And is it really protecting your skin from sun harm?

Always wanted to pick the brain of a beauty editor? Or get beauty product recommendations from someone who has tried them all? You lot've come to the correct identify. In our new weekly series Ask a Beauty Editor, dazzler editor Hana Hong answers your biggest skincare, haircare, and makeup questions, all submitted by Existent Simple readers. Tune in every Tuesday and submit your own burning dazzler questions here for a gamble to exist featured.

Question: "Exercise you still need to utilize sunscreen earlier foundation if your foundation has some in it?" – @ajpickens10

Ah, foundations with SPF. I call back we tin can all hold that sunscreen is a nonnegotiable—hither's your daily reminder to go apply—but with the genius addition of SPF-infused makeup, there are a lot of questions almost how protected you actually are if y'all rely on SPF in foundation alone.

I'll exist the kickoff to acknowledge that I'm a very lazy person, and so whatsoever multitasking beauty product is a major plus in my volume. Even so, when information technology comes to SPF in foundation, it'south amend in theory than in practice.

is-foundation-with-spf-enough: adult female applying foundation

Here's why: "When it comes to sun protection, you need a full ounce shot drinking glass of at least SPF 30 to fairly protect yourself from head-to-toe, which translates to a quarter-sized dollop for your face," says Joshua Zeichner, MD, lath-certified dermatologist in New York City. The same goes for your sunscreen-makeup hybrids. That ways you would need to apply at least a quarter-sized amount of foundation (or one to ane.five teaspoons) to your confront—and that's assuming that your foundation is buffed with a minimum of SPF 30 (which most makeup formulas are not).

That's...a lot of foundation.

You should also proceed in listen that the SPF level in foundation isn't quite as stiff as it claims. SPF thirty mixed into foundation isn't going to be as constructive as a pure SPF thirty sunscreen, so you'd really need to slather it on thick in order to become the UV protection promised by the SPF rating on the bottle.

"Makeup or sunscreen, the truth is that people don't apply nearly enough SPF as they demand," says Hadley Rex, MD, board-certified dermatologist in New York City. "Add to that the fact that you probably aren't rubbing foundation on your hairline, jawline, and cervix, all exposed areas that crave sun protection as well."

Of course, having more protection is never a bad thing. SPF volition inevitably interruption down throughout the day (which is why reapplying every two to three hours is important), then having SPF-infused foundation is similar icing on the proverbial skincare cake. Just note: Sunscreen is not additive, meaning that if you layer an SPF 25 foundation over an SPF thirty sunscreen, you won't get 55-level coverage.

I'one thousand not 1 to discriminate confronting beauty preferences, but gluey zinc oxide isn't the best expect. Unless y'all plan on piling cakey makeup to encounter the minimum of required SPF, information technology's probably easier to implement that boosted layer of sunscreen underneath. If you exercise demand to touch upwardly throughout the day, try a mineral sunscreen powder, which has a mattifying issue and won't make y'all wait like Ronald McDonald.

TL;DR: Does sunscreen in foundation injure? No. Simply is it enough? Once again, no. Although it'south bully that your foundation has sun-protecting elements in it, be certain to layer up with a good dose of the real bargain, and reapply if yous're out in the sun for hours at a fourth dimension.