Spend any amount of time researching sun protection products, and it won’t be long until you discover the wide variety that’s available. One particular type of sunscreen that’s widely advertised is face sunscreen for sensitive skin, but the question is – why do you need it? Can’t you just use regular sunscreen on your face – or am I missing something?
The truth is that you CAN just put regular sunscreen on your face, but it might cause irritation or reaction. Why? Well, because the skin on your face is more sensitive than on the rest of your body – and that’s before we start talking about sensitive skin issues that people have.
What It Might Mean to Someone With Sensitive Skin
Every one of the many sunscreens available on the market – including face sunscreen for sensitive skin – will have its own unique formula. So, when you use regular sunscreen, it’s mainly going to be designed to meet the needs of your skin on your torso, legs, shoulders and arms.
So, what you’re basically doing when using normal sunscreen on your face, is applying a regular product to an area that has different needs. It’s not going to kill you if you do, but you might get a reaction – which is obviously going to be something you want to avoid.
Face products, on the other hand, whether talking about makeup or sunscreen, have been created with the face in mind, so they’re typically gentler, less likely to clog your pores and much more able to protect your skin in every which way.
Regular Sunscreen Might Give You Breakouts
Should you choose to use regular sunscreen on your face rather than face sunscreen for sensitive skin, what you risk are breakouts. You see, it could be that any breakouts you’ve been having in the past may have been caused by using standard sunscreen in this way.
Face products are often classed as ‘non-comedogenic’, which is a fancy way of saying that they don’t clog your pores. Regular sunscreen, however, most often isn’t, resulting in the pores getting clogged up in sunscreen and dead skin cells.
It’s Not The End of The World – But You Shouldn’t
If you have sensitive skin and you find yourself in the sun for a few hours, you’ll need sunscreen of some kind. If all you have is regular sunscreen, then you should still use it. It’s better to use something that isn’t a face sunscreen for sensitive skin on your face than nothing, as breakouts are preferable to the prospect of sunburn and skin ageing.
We’re not trying to overplay things here, but the risks of sun damage can have serious health implications, so if you have to put with a few spots to avoid it – in our opinion, it’s the better option.
Throw in the fact that body sunscreen is much more likely to leave behind a white residue on your face and you see the wisdom of not using it.
In summary – use standard sunscreen on your face if you have to because there’s no other choice. If, however, you do have the option of using a face-specific sunscreen, do that instead and you cut your risks of pimples and whiteheads greatly.
