SPF Makeup Is Summer's Best Beauty Shortcut

Now, of course you’ve been listening to everything we’ve written about how you should be wearing sunscreen all year long, no matter your skin tone, and not just in the summer. But with the sunnier weather (sort of!) here, it’s the perfect time to load up even more on sun protection. Makeup brands have been adding SPF to their foundations, powders, and primers for several years, and now we’re seeing SPF or anti-UVA ingredients being added to other beauty goods like lip balms, eye creams, and hair products. Do these extras actually help prevent sun damage?

“Well, they don’t hurt,” says says Dr. Diane Wong, the medical director of Glow Medi Spa in Toronto. “But you should always use a separate broad spectrum sunscreen with at least SPF 40 and physical blockers like zinc oxide or titanium dioxide on your face. You always want to have a certain amount of product, and people already don’t put enough, but especially when you start mixing it with makeup there’s the tendency to do less.” The general rule of thumb is to use at least a half teaspoon of sunscreen on your face, reapplying every two hours if you’re out in the sun.

So you’re def not off the sunscreen hook just because there’s splash of SPF in your foundation, but here are some products that can give you an extra boost.