Keys Solar RX wins out as daily sunscreen
Working at RealSelf.com, it's hard to ignore the damage sun causes to skin. Doctors - both Dermatologists and Plastic Surgeons - routinely say that the best anti-aging advice is to minimize sun exposure and carefully reapply sunscreen at least every 2 hours.
That means wearing sunscreen every day -- even on cloudy workdays when the time spent in the sun is minimal. Before I started reading ingredients lists carefully, I disliked the greasy feel of most sunscreens. Once I understood how many unnecessary chemicals were in most drugstore sunscreens, the appeal of even the "dry" spray on sunscreens evaporated just like the alcohol that makes them feel light.
So what to use for a natural daily moisturizer with SPF? Once I found the Environmental Working Group's website, picking out the best sunscreens was easier. I ultimately settled on two sunscreens, one for daily use (where I want it to be easy to wash off of my face and clothing) and a waterproof one for strenuous exercise or outdoor swimming.
The winners:
- Keys Solar RX as non-waterproof daily moisturizer with sunscreen (16% zinc oxide)
- UV Natural 30+ (24% zinc oxide) for waterproof use
After using them all summer long, I learned that I needed to add a third sunscreen type for my forehead, which is already oily enough without sunscreen. For that I use H/E Minerals Bronzer (but in the lightest shade.)
The best part about Keys Solar RX is that it uses nano zinc oxide so it is clear once applied. UV Natural uses micronized zinc (which is bright white), and they try to tint it with iron oxide. The problem is that the combination of the waterproof base and the iron oxide means that it gets into clothing and is essentially impossible to remove. If it were just zinc oxide, it wouldn't color white clothing. But as it is, I have a khaki hat and shirt that were once bright white, with most of the color around the neck and wrists...
So I'm going to keep looking for a waterproof sunscreen with 20+% zinc oxide that doesn't have a tinted base. Let me know if you've found a sunscreen like that.
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