15 best sunscreens for your face 2024: Daily SPF protection, from sensitive to non-greasy formulas
Sunscreen is incredibly important, there’s no two ways about it. But whether you wear it every day (as we all should), slather it on while on holiday or still scrimp on the skin-protecting product, knowing which one to pick is incredibly important.
Setting the record straight on all things SPF, we sat down with Supergoop! founder Holly Thaggard to answer all our sunscreen queries, from what SPF we should be wearing to how much we should apply and why it is so darn important.
“SPF is the single most important thing that we can do for our skin,” Thaggard shared. “The sun’s UVA rays shine at about the same intensity year-round and penetrate things like clouds and windows. They attack a deeper layer of our skin, leading to all the little things we don’t like about it – wrinkles, dark spots, etc. – and can even lead to skin cancer as well.”
“When used correctly and applied generously and evenly, sunscreen with SPF 30 to 50 will offer adequate protection from the sun’s UV rays. Anything below SPF 30 really isn’t strong enough, and anything above SPF 50 almost creates a false sense of protection with unnecessary active ingredients,” she added.
And for those still learning about SPF, it’s easiest to think of the numbers as the amount of added protection. For example, using an SPF30 will protect you for 30 times longer than if you weren’t wearing anything at all.
By “applied generously”, Thaggard means apply however much you think is enough, then add a little more, with the general rule being to top up every two hours. And, we promise, those chalky, sticky lotions are absolutely a thing of the past, just keep reading to see exactly why.
