We had a discussion on this topic in spring;)
My experiences so far. First I tried one with titanium dioxide, as it's supposed to be free of harmful chemicals. Well, may be, it is but it's also a thick paste and I couldn't tolerate it.
I bought spf30 and 50 from a local brand. SPF30 worked well until we went on a vacation to the south of Germany. The sun was pretty strong there in May and despite using sunscreen royally I still got burned so I had to buy a cap and try to cover myself more.
In high summer (July-August) I switched to spf50 but it was my mistake. The temps were around 30*C and my skin started to itch. I developed some sort of allergy and couldn't use spf30 either. And it was too warm for my sun cap. So I bought myself a sun visor and a long sleeved shirt to wear on top and went with long skirts only. And it was fine.
I also mostly tried to avoid direct sun during the day and wore a big hat while sitting on a terrace outside. Plus we used awnings. It became cooler in September so i could use spf30 again without any problem. Now in October we have sun strength 1-2 so unless I spend a lot of time in direct sunlight I don't use any protection.
My conclusion. Spf30 doesn't really help well when the sun is strong and you spend a lot of time outdoors. Mechanical protection (awnings, hats, caps, clothes) and avoiding direct sunlight gives better results + you don't have to use chemical stuff on your skin. Though I wonder if a normal day cream is so much better for you...
There are tinted sunscreen powders with titanium and zinc oxides. They don't usually irritate skin.
ReplyDeleteMy skin is ridiculously sensitive to all chemicals, so ordinary sunscreen are no-no for me. Usually I just wear wide-brimmed hat and covering clothes (those also keep you cooler) and avoid direct sunlight (I also sweat in most unladylike manner, so I would prefer it anyway). But occasionally, if I get a change to go sailing or canoeing or some other water activity, I wear those powders on my face and they work well.
I have never seen these powders sold over here, unfortunately. I'll try to look next year as I still have spf30 sunscreen left for now (had some very bright sunny days this week).
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