Since sunscreens come in so many different SPFs (ranging from around 2 to 100), is the higher number always better? Is an SPF that is too high actually bad for you, and what SPF do you really need?

Why I regularly use sunscreens that are at least SPF 30
For every day use, I always choose sunscreens that are at least SPF 30, and my favorite sunscreen happens to have an SPF 55. It takes a lot of sunscreen to actually achieve the stated level on the tube! For some reason I always thought you needed a teaspoon of sunscreen for your face, but it turns out you only need 1/4 or 1/3 of a teaspoon to adequately cover your face. A shot glass of sunscreen is what you need to cover your whole body.

As vigilant as I am about sunscreen, I find it hard to put an entire third of a teaspoon of sunscreen on my face. No matter how great the sunscreen, it starts to look thick and unnatural when you have a super thick coat of it on. It also gets expensive! My other fear is that when I put on foundation over the sunscreen, I worry that some of the sunscreen ends up back on my hands. Also, if I’m not going to be out in the sun, I don’t want to have to reapply my sunscreen every few hours, since I have on makeup. I’m sure some of the sunscreen wears off as the day goes on. If I do go to the beach or pool, I stay in the shade, and slather on the third of a teaspoon on my face, and reapply at least every two hours, and right after being in the water.

It’s estimated that people only apply about half as much sunscreen as they should. So that SPF 30 is more like an SPF 15. That SPF 15 is inadequate sun protection if you don’t use enough. Paula Begoun has a sun essentials/sunscreen FAQ that has lots of useful information.

Sunscreen does not offer 100% sun protection
Even the best sunscreen is not going to offer 100% sun protection. With the correct amount, an SPF 30 offers about 97% UVB sun protection, while an SPF 15 offers about 95% protection. Personally I want all the protection I can get because I still notice freckles appear when I’m out in the hot sun, and I sometimes get a slight tan, even when I slather on the recommended amount of sunscreen.

Is a high SPF dangerous?
An SPF higher than 30 is still only going to provide about 97% UVB protection. The higher number just means you can stay out longer in the sun without getting burned. In Paula Begoun’s book Don’t Go To The Cosmetics Counter Without Me, when reviewing Neutrogena Dry-Touch Sunblock SPF 70, she does state that higher SPF sunscreens put more sunscreen active ingredients on your skin, which isn’t necessarily a good thing.

How I choose sunscreens
Primarily I look for sunscreens with at least 10% Zinc Oxide and an SPF 30+. I have 20 more posts I’ve written about sunscreen that go into more detail about ingredients. I also personally like sunscreens that are waterproof in the summer, so that they don’t sweat off. I am not afraid of higher SPF sunscreens, but I’m also happy with sunscreens in the 30-55 range for every day use.

I think I’ve finally found a moisturizer that actually moisturizes well, doesn’t clog pores, contains lots of antioxidants, and comes in stable packaging! For years I either find moisturizers that work great, but that don’t have any antioxidants, or I find a product that clogs pores, or one that does contain antioxidants, but that comes in a jar packaging, which makes the antioxidants worthless.

Clinique Continuous Rescue Antioxidant Moisturizer
I picked up a jar of my favorite moisturizer Clinique Moisture On-line, and got a sample of the Continuous Rescue Antioxidant Moisturizer - for Dry Combination skin in the gift-with-purchase goodie bag. I love the Clinique Moisture On-line because it works so well to keep my skin plump and hydrated all day, yet it’s expensive for what it is because it comes in jar packaging, so in the end it’s only a good hydrator.

For the same price, the Continuous Rescue comes in the tube packaging shown in the picture, and it’s loaded with antioxidants, which should remain stable in the tube. I’ve been wearing this moisturizer for over a week, and it hasn’t caused any breakouts. It doesn’t hydrate quite as well as the Moisture On-line, so I’m excited to try out the Very Dry version soon (assuming it doesn’t have pore clogging ingredients). There’s also a Combination Oily version (which I haven’t been able to find the ingredients for yet either). While the Dry Combination moisturizer wasn’t quite hydrating enough for my skin the bone-dry desert of Las Vegas, I also wore it for a week in super hot and humid New York City, where I was visiting last week. It was plenty hydrating there, and was just ever so slightly shiny on me (which I don’t mind at all).

I would highly recommend trying this moisturizer if you are looking for a moisturizer with lots of stable antioxidants. Just remember to put on sunscreen over it since it doesn’t contain sun protection. Have you tried this, or do you currently use a moisturizer that has the same properties as this one (doesn’t clog pores, stable packaging, good hydrator, lots of antioxidants)?

Do you ever use skin care products that feel like they are burning your skin? It may be ironic, but certain sunscreens cause my skin to feel like it’s burning, and when I wear the offending sunscreen in the sun, the burning gets even worse! The use of retinol products can definitely make your skin more sensitive and more susceptible to the burning sensation.

Benzophenones
Many sunscreens contain some form of benzophenones in it, which I believe is the culprit for sunscreens that feel like they are burning. In the old days PABA was the cause of a lot of burning problems, but I haven’t seen any sunscreens containing PABA in years. The EPA has an informative article called sunscreen: the burning facts.

Currently ingredients like Avobenzone, Oxybenzone, Dioxybenzone, and Sulisobenzone can be an issue for people with sensitive skin, and these ingredients are very common in sunscreens. Avobenzone (probably the most common sunscreen ingredient nowadays) makes my face feel like it’s on fire when I wear a lot of it in the sun. If you haven’t had any issues with these ingredients, then by all means keep using them if you are seeing good results from the product.

I use face self-tanners that are basically moisturizers with self-tanner, however they also contain sunscreen ingredients. I really like Neutrogena Build-A-Tan Face and L’Oreal Sublime Glow For Face because they don’t clog my pores, and they work well. But lately they burn so much when I apply them (probably because I recently started a new retinol regimen) that I feel like it’s probably not a good idea to keep using them. I have not seen a single drugstore face sunscreen that doesn’t contain sunscreen with benzophenone ingredients, or pore-cloggers, so it’s quite annoying! I’ll have to check Sephora and the department stores. I also want to research to see if there are any regular body self-tanners that are safe to use on my face, since a lot of them don’t contain sunscreen.

There are other chemical sunscreen ingredients, and while any ingredient can cause problems in some people, the benzophenones are the most common ingredients that cause problems. I have no problems with these zinc oxide-based sunscreens, even though some of them contain some chemical sunscreen ingredients as well.

What skin care ingredients cause your skin to burn? I also get burning from glycolic acid (which is normal), menthol, peppermint, SD alcohol, and alcohol denat. Only the glycolic acid is beneficial for your skin.

Retinol, the main ingredients in the product Green Cream, is one of the best anti-aging skin care ingredients because it’s been proven to help with fine lines, hyperpigmentation, uneven skin texture, acne, and it helps achieve smoother, brighter looking skin.

Green Cream - Level 6
Even though I normally use TX Systems Afirm for my retinol cream, for some reason I was bored and thought I’d try something new. I also was using the prescription acne/wrinkle cream Differin, but had a mix-up with my prescription, so I decided to see what would happen if I went off Differin and just used a non-prescription product.

When I wrote about different retinol products to try, someone suggested Green Cream. I was initially hesitant to try it because the fifth ingredient in it is a pore-clogger, so it doesn’t seem like a good idea to use on acne-prone skin (even though retinol itself is good for acne). But I threw caution to the wind and bought it anyway, since no one who reviewed it on makeupalley.com complained of getting breakouts from it.

I’ve been using the Green Cream Level 6 (.6% retinol) for a week now and have had no problems with it, and no breakouts so far, luckily. The product comes in three levels - Level 3 (.3% retinol), Level 6 (.6% retinol), and Level 9 (.9% retinol). Level 3 is for people with sensitive skin, or someone that hasn’t used any retinol products and wants to start out slow. Level 6 is for most skin types, and Level 9 is for people that can tolerate higher percentages of retinol. My plan is to work my way up to Level 9 to see the maximum benefits. All levels of the Green Cream contain much more retinol than drugstore products, so if you really want to see results, buying retinol products at the drugstore just isn’t going to do much.

The Green Cream is a little bit drying, which can be expected from any high-potency retinol product, but my face hasn’t even peeled, which is good, because a lot of retinol products have caused me to peel. I’ve noticed my face is more sensitive to certain ingredients (glycolic acid, chemical sunscreen ingredients) and that can be expected, at least initially. It will take 6-8 weeks to start seeing the full benefits from the product, so after a week, my face looks the same as always.

The packaging on the Green Cream is excellent, because it keeps the retinol potent by protecting it from light and air. Overall so far I’m happy with the Green Cream, and hope to see results from it. Technically I wouldn’t recommend it for someone with acne-prone skin since it does have that one pore clogging ingredient, but I’ve had no breakouts from it, even though I’m very acne-prone. And in case you’re wondering why it’s called Green Cream - it’s because the product is green (they picked the color randomly). If you aren’t acne-prone, Green Cream should be a great high-potency retinol product to try.

There are so few drugstore sunscreens that have Zinc Oxide in them, my preferred sunscreen ingredient, but I noticed a few stores carry Solar Sense Clear Zinc products. Even though Blue Lizard is my favorite drugstore sunscreen, I wanted to try something new.

Solar Sense Clear Zinc Sport Stick For Face
I picked up the Solar Sense Clear Zinc Sport Stick For Face for $3. It says you can also use it on your lips, which is great because I have searched high and low and cannot find any lip balms that contain Zinc Oxide!

This Solar Sense Stick has an SPF 45, and contains 8% Zinc Oxide, which is pretty decent, plus it contains other chemical sunscreen ingredients. The product doesn’t appear to have any pore-clogging ingredients, although it’s pretty thick going on.

I first tried this fragrance-free product on my lips, and it was okay, but not great. It left a slight white residue, and it dried out my lips. You could always use this and then coat your lips with another lip balm or lip gloss, but it’s annoying that it makes your lips dry.

Next I smoothed the stick on my face. It does go on clear, and it leaves sort of a waxy feel. I can’t imagine coating my whole face with this stick, since it would take forever, and it’s thick. In the end, I’m not really sure what to do with this stick. It’s not practical to use on your whole face, and it’s too drying and chalky on your lips. It’s water-resistant, and due to its waxy consistency, maybe it would stay on better in the water than other sunscreens? It’s hard to say, but maybe it could work as an extra sunscreen coating on noses, ears, and other easily burned areas.

Solar Sense Clear Zinc For Face
The other interesting Solar Sense product is this little tub of sunscreen. It’s also only about $3, which is great. It contains 6.65% Zinc Oxide, plus chemical sunscreen ingredients. I haven’t personally tried it yet. My boyfriend used it and liked it, but he got a bunch of clogged pores, and it does have some pore clogging ingredients (although they are 10th in the ingredient list, so in theory this shouldn’t be too bad for acne). I’ve also noticed a few generic store-brand Zinc Oxide sunscreens out there in drugstores and supermarkets, so it’s worth checking where you shop if you’re trying to find a super cheap, yet effective sunscreen.

If you’ve been lucky enough to figure out how to keep your acne at bay, and prevent future breakouts, then you obviously feel a huge sense of relief. But what do you do when acne breakouts come back?

I’ve been relatively acne-free for a few years now. I had pretty significant adult acne which took a few years of trial and error before I found an acne regimen that worked for me. The fear that my acne will come back as bad as it was before is constant, but I feel like I have enough knowledge now to know how to prevent my face from going completely haywire. For the past few weeks, however, I’ve been getting several small breakouts - it’s nothing major, but enough for me to take action.

I feel like I’ve personally cured my acne and can now prevent acne breakouts by following my self-created regimen. So why am I suddenly breaking out then? It’s because I’m not following my own advice and regimen! If you find a skin care routine that works for you, stick with it! If you haven’t found a routine that works, then hopefully you will find that my own regimen works well for you.

Go back to basics
It’s now been a week since I had the last breakout. What did I do? I went back to using the exact products I know don’t cause me to breakout, and that I know help to prevent acne.

It gets boring using the same products month after month, and since I write this skin care blog, there’s always something new to try. The temptation is so great to be always searching for the best new product. But if you’ve found a routine that works, stick with it - it’s boring, but it works, and it will save you money!

Try one new product at a time
If you are like me and can’t resist trying out new skin care products, then only try one new product at a time. Keep everything else the same, and give the new product a week, or two ideally, to see how it works for you. If you try multiple new products at the same time, it’s impossible to tell what works and what doesn’t. Even if you pick a new product designed to help with acne, it could always make your acne worse, so the only way to know is to test it by itself.

Prevent future breakouts
Even if you rarely breakout, using at least one daily acne product can prevent future breakouts. Daily use of a strong retinol, retinoid, or good salicylic or glycolic product can help prevent breakouts if you rarely get pimples. To keep my acne under control, I need a whole slew of products, and I think my current breakout crisis happened partly because I ran out of my acne prescription for Differin several weeks ago. By not using Differin, I’m pretty sure my skin is much more susceptible to having problems with products that don’t usually cause issue for me. So it’s back to boring ole basics for me right now since it’s better to be safe than sorry (and pimply).

I recently received some L’Oreal Skin Genesis products to test - the Oil-Free Lotion and the Serum Concentrate. I love testing new products, however, if you read my avoid alcohol in cosmetics post, you’ll see that I had previously blasted the Serum Concentrate, although to be fair, I hadn’t tried it til now.

L’Oreal Skin Genesis Serum Concentrate
This product contains alcohol denat as its third ingredient, so normally I’d stay away from this product, since alcohol is an unnecessary aggravating and drying ingredient to use on your skin. Begrudgingly, I used this product for a week. The product is a lightweight serum, and even though it contains alcohol, it didn’t dry out my skin, luckily. However, the product really didn’t do anything for my skin during the week I used it. It’s supposed to “layer by layer, recreate stronger, tighter, brighter skin.” It contains Pro-Xylane, which is something that L’Oreal has patented to “reignite skin’s natural cell activity layer by layer.”

Since Pro-Xylane is a relatively new skin care ingredient, I wouldn’t want to spend money on a product that doesn’t have a lot of proven claims to back it up yet. Pro-Xylane could be the greatest thing ever, but I would like to wait to see more evidence. The Serum Concentrate does contain Hyaluronic Acid (sodium hyaluronate) which is an excellent moisturizing ingredient.

Since this product contains alcohol and is a bit pricey for a drugstore product (around $19), I would not recommend using it.

L’Oreal Skin Genesis Oil-Free Lotion
After applying the Serum Concentrate, you are supposed to use the Oil-Free Lotion. The lotion has an extremely unpleasant medicinal/floral scent that lingers way too long. The lotion feels really nice going on, it doesn’t contain alcohol, and it feels really hydrating at first. However I have dry skin, and this lotion wasn’t enough to hydrate my skin, so I ended up needing an additional moisturizer, which didn’t go on well over this product. If you have normal skin, this could be a good lightweight moisturizer. While this product also boasts containing Hyaluronic Acid like the Serum Concentrate, the ingredient is way down the list, and therefore its benefits are negligible.

If you have normal skin and need a lightweight moisturizer, this could be fine to use. I personally would stick with something that contains proven anti-aging ingredients - like peptides, retinol, or antioxidants. Pro-Xylane may end up being a great anti-aging skin care ingredient, but personally I’m not ready to go out of my way to use it.

Final thoughts
Both of these products come in great packaging - an opaque pump, which keeps the contents air-tight and fresh. Neither of these products contain pore-cloggers in the first ten ingredients, which is good. However they do contain pore-clogging ingredients after the tenth ingredient, which may or may not be a problem for acne-prone skin.

Read more about L’Oreal Skin Genesis at TotalBeauty.com

What are your summer beauty must-haves? Now that it’s 105 degrees, or super hot and sticky in most parts of the country, what can’t you live without? My friend was just in town visiting, and we were out all day yesterday gallivanting in the sweltering heat. Now she’s off to San Francisco, where it’s a pleasant 60 degrees and refreshingly foggy. Fog never sounded so appealing!

Beautiful Makeup Search has a list of a bunch of beauty bloggers’ favorite beauty items for summer. I’m sure you can guess what I’ve included on the list (hint: sunscreen)!

Now instead of having to go to the tanning salon to get a spray tan, you can do it in the comfort of your own home!

L’Oreal Sublime Bronze ProPerfect Airbrush
I’ve never gotten a tan-in-a-can before, so using this product was new for me. According to the directions, you are supposed to spray the product continuously at arm’s length, and you don’t need to rub it in. Just spray, wait a few minutes, get dressed, and you are done. The color is supposed to being to develop in less than an hour.

Pros
I’ve used this product every day for a week, and there are a few things I really like about it. It smells better than every other self-tanner I’ve used. It smells exactly like the Sublime Bronze Gelee that I normally use, and it has a nice light pleasant scent. The product dries really quickly, and it doesn’t contain alcohol, so it doesn’t dry my skin out very much. It’s super fast and easy to use, however it’s not possible to reach every place on my body, so I mostly used it on my arms and legs.

Cons
The main problem I had with the Sublime Bronze ProPerfect Airbrush was that it didn’t do much. You are supposed to use it every day until you reach your desired color, and then maintain the results by using it once or twice a week. I really didn’t get that much darker after the week was up. Maybe I just didn’t use enough of the product? The good news is that I had almost no streaking. I did have a streak on my arm, and I think the key is to hold the product as far away from you as possible. If you do end up with any wet patches, just lightly rub them in. If I had used more of the product, I wonder if the results would have been better. But then the chances of streaking or unevenness would have increased.

The verdict
If using an airbrush tanning product intrigues you, then it’s definitely worth trying. Like any self-tanner, practice makes perfect, so once you get the hang of it, your results should get better. Since I have dry skin, after I used this product, I waited a while and then applied a moisturizer over it. Because of my need for a moisturizer, I’m going to stick with my Sublime Bronze Gelee, mixed with a moisturizer. I also feel like I have a bit more control of the product when I’m using a gel/lotion, rather than a spray, since I can tell exactly what areas I’ve covered.

Read more reviews of L’Oreal Sublime Bronze ProPerfect Airbrush at TotalBeauty.com

If you’ve flown anywhere in the last few years, then you know that being able to bring all of your favorite beauty products is a big challenge, especially if you don’t check bags! And squeezing all of your necessities into a quart-sized ziplock bag is nearly impossible, plus most products exceed the 2 ounce limit anyway!

Lots of makeup, skin care, hair care, fragrance, and body product companies have recently created mini versions of their products to meet the needs of frequent travelers.

Check Out Sephora’s Airplane Approved Beauty Products
(type “airplane” in the search box)

There are tons of beauty products at Sephora that are airplane-approved. I also love mini products because it’s a cheaper way to test out new products before committing to a full-size pricy version. And these minis are also great to carry in your purse! Normally when I travel, I just stick all of my products in little plastic containers from Target and beauty stores, but that’s sort of a pain, and I’m always paranoid about them leaking everywhere. I just picked up a travel-size version of Clinique Dramatically Different Lotion and have lots more minis on my wishlist. Which minis have you bought recently?