Answering (Almost) Every Sunscreen Question

sunscreen questions guide

I’ve talked a ton about sunscreen over the years, but I’ve found that on every sunscreen post I get asked questions that I’ve answered before, and I think it’s because I’ve gotten a lot of new followers (hi, welcome and thank you!). So I thought I’d do a post where I try to cover every sunscreen question that’s relevant to …

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Free Sunscreen Science E-Summit!

Sunscreen E-Summit

Here’s a special event for all the sunscreen nerds! I’ve teamed up with Jen of The Eco Well to organise the Sunscreen E-Summit, which is happening 15 May! This is a FREE event featuring some incredible speakers that you’d normally have to pay expensive conference fees to learn from, including academic researchers, ingredient supplier representatives, sunscreen formulators and regulatory experts. …

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You can mix foundation with sunscreen… sometimes

This is a sponsored post. If you’re a skincare nerd, you’ll know that mixing foundation with sunscreen is a Bad Thing, even though a lot of people do it, and some brands even recommend it. While mixing a couple of drops of foundation in with your sunscreen solves a lot of problems (takes the edge off any white cast, removes …

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Do zinc sunscreens stop working and go toxic after 2 hours?

Chemical vs Physical Sunscreens: The Science (with video)

There’s a new paper on zinc oxide sunscreens not working and becoming toxic after 2 hours of UV exposure. A lot of people have sent me this paper, so here’s my analysis of it. In short, the researchers found that sunscreen ingredients broke down when mixed with zinc oxide and exposed to UV light, and the degraded mixtures had lower …

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My Favourite Sunscreens: 2021 Update

sunscreen connoisseur

As a sunscreen connoisseur who tries out a lot of sunscreens, it always feel premature to make a list of my favourites. I try a lot of sunscreens but I feel like I can never get through as many as I’d like, because unfortunately I have just the one face. I did a list of my favourites at the end …

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How much UV does a REAL mineral sunscreen absorb and scatter?

sunscreen center mount

Warning: Very nerdy content ahead! If you’ve been following sunscreen discourse (apparently this is a thing now) you’ll know that mineral sunscreens mostly work by absorbing UV and only scattering a small amount, in the region of 4-5% across the range of UV. This was quantified in a pretty commonly cited 2016 paper by Curtis Cole, Thomas Shyr and Hao Ou-Yang, “Metal …

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Zinc Sunscreens Don’t Work Better: Every Myth Busted

Chemical vs Physical Sunscreens: The Science (with video)

There are so many myths around mineral or physical sunscreens – the ones with zinc oxide and titanium dioxide – and how they’re supposedly better than chemical sunscreens with scarier names like oxybenzone and octocrylene. And it’s usually zinc oxide that gets all the hype. Some of these advantages are true… but so many are just myths. And a lot …

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