What Sunscreen Should I Use Daily?

As an outdoor skincare product company, we often get asked the question "What Sunscreen Should I Use Daily?". So let's hop in and I will share my thoughts to this such simple, but impactful question.

Being a consumer we are often bombarded with lots of information and advertising that can contains lots of overlapping and confusing information. I will keep it simple and say that at the end of the day, the answer to this question is that you should purchase the sunscreen you will actually use everyday. Go with what you are comfortable with, the one you like the smell of, the one that has the texture you like.

But with that being said, there are some very important things to take into consideration when choosing a sunscreen for daily use.

I think we can all agree that for those under-30, applying sunscreen on a daily basis is one of the best anti-aging regimens one can do. And for those over-30, applying sunscreen daily can help slow aging and prevent sun damage. However, with that being said, there are some things to consider when purchasing a sunscreen for daily use.

Fundamentally there are two types of sunscreens - Chemical Sunscreens and Physical Sunscreens. Chemical sunscreens work by using ingredients such as oxybenzone, avobenzone, octisalate, octocrylene, homosalate, or octinoxate which get absorbed into our skin which then absorbs the UV rays and then convert these rays into heat. While a physical sunscreen is simply that, it uses  zinc oxide or titanium oxide on the skin to literally block and reflects the sun's UV rays.

Random fact: UV rays from the sun traveled  92,955,807 miles to earth (yes, that is the exact number) and we block it in the last nano-centimeter of its journey...how cool is that?

The general consensus has always been that chemical based sunscreens go on easier while zinc or titanium dioxide based sunscreens can leave behind a white or pasty residue. While this may have been true in the past, there are have been many innovations in the last few years. This innovation has been pushed by both consumers and governments wanting safer and better for the environment sunscreen products. Oxybenzone, avobenzone, octisalate, octocrylene, homosalate, and octinoxate have all been proven to be bleaching and killing coral reefs which has got them banned in some countries and U.S. states.

Here at Blue Mission we take the stance that chemical based sunscreens need to be phased out because physical based sunscreens have gotten to a point where they are better than chemical based sunscreens without all the very harmful impacts on the environment and potentially our bodies. This article won't go into the possible issues of oxybenzone, avobenzone, octisalate, octocrylene, homosalate, and octinoxate on our bodies, but I recommend searching Google for how they are potentially disrupting the hormones of our bodies.

Daily SPF moisturizers that contain zinc or titanium dioxide now come in a variety of shades which can match our skin complexion and spread onto our skin more smoothly allowing for an even distribution of the sunscreen to fully protect your skin. More and more companies, both large and small, are coming to their senses about the benefits of zinc and titanium dioxide based sunscreens are creating entire product lines soley devoted to them...including us here at Blue Mission.