How to apply sunscreen — the best anti-aging product you can buy

Hands down, no arguing, no doubting …  sunblock is 007. It is the single best anti-aging product on the market because damage from the sun is the biggest damager of our skin. Sun exposure is what causes premature aging, lines, wrinkles and pigmentation — all the things we spend lots of money on products trying to fix!

I know, it’s not very sexy, it’s not so lovely to put on, and it does not bring us self-care joy, but in reality we should be singing love songs in the mirror while applying sunblock 😊.

It is the most important product in your skincare range, far more important than anything I sell. Unfortunately, I don’t think most people consider it part of their skincare routine, let alone make it a priority. But it should be. I wish I had started it years before I did.

I don't make it, I don't sell it, and I am not going to recommend any particular brands here, but I will include some helpful places to look for information.

Sunblock the real secret to anti-aging

In the skincare industry there's lots of marketing around anti-aging — much of it misleading. So many products promise you the fountain of youth but fail to deliver. Sunblock is the one product that doesn't seem to promise anti-aging but it's the very thing that will do that.

But you have to find one you love, because you’re not going to use it every day if you hate it or if it breaks you out in spots, or if it’s so thick you look like a surfer, or if it melts and runs into your eyes (all the problems I have had when finding the few I like). So, you may have to try a few before you land on one that works but most brands sell trial sizes these days.

There are brands that advise you wear sunblock indoors because of the UV that gets through windows, but I don’t think this is very practical and so my focus is on wearing it when most damage is done, outdoors. 

Of course, protecting your skin from aging is not all down to just wearing sunblock. You can take other precautions too by covering up, wearing a hat, sunglasses, and staying in the shade when you can.

You still do need a good Face cream or Face oil to feed, hydrate and protect your face but it's going to work so much better when you are doing the basics well :) 

When to use it and how to apply it?

Because the sun is at its strongest and most damaging between 10-4pm use a good sunscreen during these hours and to keep out of direct sun as much as you can (if you still want to look gorgeous in years to come).

Follow the manufacturer's instructions — in New Zealand having adequate label instructions has only become mandatory in the last two years so use them. 

Apply at least 20 minutes before exposure (difficult I know) and use about 2mls for your face (that's about 2 finger lengths) and about 25mls for the rest of your body or less if you're mostly covered up.

For your face apply the sunscreen as the last step in your skincare so after serums, oils +/or Face Cream but before make up. Apply from the center of your face and rub it up and out so you are less likely to miss bits. And don't forget your neck and ears and top of your head as these are key areas for skin damage and cancers. 

Reapply every 2 hours or after exercising. If you are worried about your make-up being wrecked there are a trillion videos on how to do this.

Will sunblock stop Vitamin D?

A lot of people tell me they don’t like using sunblock because they need their Vitamin D and absolutely Vitamin D is super-important for our physical and mental health but if you get out in the morning before 10 o'clock you can get your dose without too much damage. And really don't need much sunlight to stimulate Vitamin D production. And my best piece of advice here is that you never need to expose you face to get your Vitamin D dose, you will get the best result through exposing your larger skin areas such as your arms and legs. It’s smarter, faster and cheaper way to get your Vitamin D kick because the money we spend on skincare is 99% dedicated to our faces.

Hats and SPF are critical when out in the sun: don't rely on sunscreen alone. Cover up, wear a hat and don't get red.

Always buy a dedicated sunblock (not your make-up or skincare)

Do not use a sunblock that's built-in to your face cream or make-up. One of the main reasons for this is that you will never be able to apply enough to get the coverage that's required to protect you from the sun. Generally, you need to apply more sunblock than you think and you will never put that much face cream or make-up on — unless you want to end up looking like one of the Derry Girls!

And sunscreen needs to be reapplied every 2-3 hours. No-one reapplies their make-up or skincare throughout the day. And the labels of these products never instruct you to do that. 

Having your sunblock built-in to your make-up also gives you a false sense of security that you're going out protected. Even the best sunscreens protect you for only a few hours.

Use a broad spectrum sunblock

There are all sorts of confusing bits of information to understand about sunblock such the difference between UVA and UVB rays.

A good way to think about UV is this: with UVA, the A stands for aging. That's the radiation that damages your skin, making it look older. With UVB think of the B as standing for "Bad" or "Burning" as this is the radiation that can cause cancer. You don’t want either, so to protect against both by using a broad-spectrum sunscreen.

Make sure your sunblock works!

You need to make sure you have a sunblock that's scientifically tested and certified to work. That certification will be on the packaging.

In New Zealan the Sunscreen (Product Safety Standard) Act came into force in 2022  meaning that companies have to be independently tested and now have label requirements so it's a lot better than before but if you want to check the most recent testing of products for Consumer NZ sunscreen database

And like anything it won't work so well if it has expired or if you have stored it badly.