Why you shouldn't apply Sunscreen like Gwyneth Paltrow
Recently Vogue put up the video “Gwyneth Paltrow’s Guide to Everyday Skin Care and Wellness”. While there were many issues to be had with her advice, the most dubious was undoubtedly her sunscreen application technique. Ms Paltrow recommends dabbing it on frugally to the high points of one’s face.
Like highlighter.
The world’s entire community of skin professionals - cosmetic chemists, dermatologists & estheticians, etc - all face palmed at once.
While we’re all used to dealing with clients taking bad advice from celebrities and beauty bloggers (i’m talking about the ones that are not also beauty professionals), this one hit a new hight, not just stupid but also very dangerous advice to follow.
I’m a pro aging skin therapist - I believe that it’s a privilege to age but I also believe in ageing gracefully by protecting and nourishing your cells to help you maintain healthy, beautiful skin at every age. Ask any skin professional and I think you’ll find that sunscreen is at the top of their list, in fact many, myself included will basically tell you that if you’re not willing to use sun protection every day, there’s not much point in doing anything else. Sun damage causes 80% of premature aging. That’s what we’re trying to prevent - PREMATURE aging. Applying your sunscreen like a highlighter will have you aging at such an advanced rate that you’ll be getting the seniors discount without needing to flash your card by the time you’re 50. I guess there could be a benefit to that? It’s certainly not enough of a benefit to outweigh the risks.
Speaking of risks, did you know that:
Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States and worldwide.
1 in 5 Americans will develop skin cancer by the age of 70.
More than 2 people die of skin cancer in the U.S. every hour.
Having 5 or more sunburns doubles your risk for melanoma.
When detected early, the 5-year survival rate for melanoma is 99 percent.
The SPF on the bottle is a number that is based on the amount of the product that you apply to a set sized patch of skin, two milligrams of sunscreen per square centimeter of skin. This works out to roughly 1/4 of a teaspoon for the face alone, I’d recommend doubling that and also covering throat, back of neck, ears, chest and shoulders daily. Yep. Daily. If you’re not leaving the house and not sitting near a window, I’d say you can probably skip it but if you do sit near a window then you should be applying sunscreen every morning. This also means that you absolutely cannot rely on tinted moisturizer, foundation or BB Cream to do the job of a sunscreen, you simply won’t be applying even close to the correct amount.
So basically, if you’re applying your sunscreen like highlighter, you’re doing it wrong.
Here is me, slathering it on because this is how you apply sunscreen.