No matter the season, sunscreen should be a year-round preventative health practice to keep our skin healthy and full of life. Just as a refresher, sunscreen actively works against skin discoloration, aging, deep wrinkles, prevent skin cancer. The catch? Sunscreen is a 365-days-a-year deal. Inside or outside. Hot or not.
Even we can admit that applying sunscreen can slip our minds when we’re constantly go-go-go running errands or working near a window. But it’s those “little” daily actions that can put our skin at risk for sunburn and damage.
To keep ourselves covered (literally!)—and to squash any doubts about where sunscreen should fall in your makeup layering routine—we’ve perfected a minimal four-step layering process to applying sunscreen daily. Here’s what our team of experts and dermatologists want YOU to know when it comes to layering sunscreen under your makeup—along with six products that help make our morning routine seamless:
Let’s get to it...1, 2, 3, 4!
1. Cleanse
First things first, splash some water and cleanse your face! Cleansing should always kickstart your morning routine. As Mona Gohara, MD, associate clinical professor at Yale School of Medicine says, “For ingredients to absorb properly, you need clean skin that’s totally free of oil and grime.” A facial cleanser helps remove any leftover make-up, oil, or dirt from your night’s sleep and pillow. It helps clear away impurities and dissolves excess oil, sweat, and makeup. Talk about a morning refresher!
2. Apply any treatments- like a serum!
Serum time! Serums are a must in our morning routine, as they can help protect our skin from inflammation and damage. Serums are a form of topical antioxidants that help offset exposure to free radicals throughout the day such as UV damage and air pollution — yeah, we don’t love that!
3. Moisturize
Now that we’ve prepped our skin by cleansing it and treating it with a serum, it’s ready for that moisture! Like SPF, moisturizer is a need every single day as it reduces both extremes of dryness or oiliness.
Dr. Shereene Idriss, a New York City dermatologist shares “a moisturizer not only infuses your skin with hydration but also helps trap in all the products underneath it to make the ingredients even more effective.”
4. SPF baby!
Sunscreen! Before we even try to convince ourselves that SPF 15 in our foundation or cover-up is enough … it’s not. Dermatologists from the American Academy of Dermatology Association recommend using a face sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30. So, SPF 15 OUT, and SPF 30 IN!
And nobody wants to try and rub in heavy, thick sunscreen after applying makeup, so thank goodness we don’t have to! The key to applying SPF is to apply it BEFORE you put on your makeup look for the day.
So, for maximum protection for your glowing skin, sunscreen like COOLA's transparent Full Spectrum 360° Mineral Sun Silk Crème Organic Face Sunscreen SPF 30 should be applied directly onto your face, underneath any makeup. Similarly, for those who enjoy a lighter, simple experience, the COOLA Sun Silk Drops Organic Face Sunscreen SPF 30 also does the trick for protecting your skin before you run out the door.
See? It doesn’t need to be a 10-step process. It can be 4.
Implementing SPF in our morning routine before we pick up the makeup brush doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Cleanse, apply serum, moisturize, and hit that SPF!
Your skin will thank you later.