Photo: Courtesy of Vichy.A few weeks ago, I committed the ultimate beauty sin. It was one of the first truly warm, blissfully sunny Sundays, so I quickly threw on leggings, a T-shirt, and sneakers and ran out of the house to meet a friend for what was supposed to be a quick walk along the river. Well, you know how this story goes: It was so beautiful out that the quick walk turned into a few hours of strolling. All in all, I was basically in direct sunlight for at least three hours — with not a stitch of SPF anywhere on my skin, which hadn't seen the sun for eons.
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Not surprisingly, I got a pretty serious burn that lasted for the better part of a week. My forehead and nose were scorched. In addition, my upper chest and the back of my neck were flaming red, and there were bright white stripes where the straps of my sports bra had covered my skin. I was horrified. I'm normally very good about wearing sunscreen, for both aesthetic reasons as well as health purposes. I couldn't believe I'd been so careless. Sadly, I could do nothing more about my sadly crispy situation than pop ibuprofen, stay moisturized, and vow to douse myself in sun protection henceforth in an attempt to repair my sadly compromised epidermis.
Thankfully, my editor took one (only slightly judge-y) look at me when I strolled in on Monday, guilty and beet-faced, and handed me a bottle of Vichy's new Capital Soleil SPF 50 sunscreen foam to review. Yes, this would be sunscreen that you get to squirt out of a can and apply to your body as if you're frosting yourself with whipped cream. And, if you're thinking this sounds like a ton of fun, that's because it is. This lovely fluff blends in with almost no effort, leaving behind no grease or residue — just gently fragranced, lightly moisturized skin that is swathed in ironclad protection.
I have been applying it diligently, hoping the Sun Damage Gods will take note of my repentance and forgive me and my mug our transgressions — and I am happy to report that my pale-kid skin has stayed that way. The fact that the application makes me feel like I'm literally bathing in some kind of delicious meringue? That's just the icing on the skin cake.
Vichy Capital Soleil SPF 50 Lightweight Foaming Lotion, $28.50, available at Vichy.