Hear us out: Makeup with SPF should no longer be a slept-on category. We know you’ve been hurt by sunscreen in the past, but innovation has come a long way, and there are now tons of cool products on the market that help you sneak in extra sun protection without doing much more than putting on lip balm or setting powder. But first, it’s important to note that dabbing on an SPF skin tint or misting on an SPF setting spray can’t give you adequate sun protection—you’ll still need to make sure you’re applying your sunscreen before putting on your makeup, even if your makeup contains SPF. But a little extra help can’t hurt, right?
“Using SPF-infused makeup isn’t adequate protection on its own, but it comes in handy for re-application and for touch-ups,” says Karan Lal, DO, a board-certified dermatologist at Affiliated Dermatology in Scottsdale, AZ. Hey, we’ll take it. To help make your makeup bag more suncare friendly, we tested the most popular SPF-based makeup products to narrow down our seven favorites. The below winners include a medium-coverage foundation that we’d wear even if it didn’t have SPF, a setting spray that’ll keep your skin luminous for hours, and a brush-on powder that makes touching-up your SPF a breeze. But first:
Know what SPF makeup can and can’t do
A common misconception with SPF-infused makeup is that the more products you apply, the better protected you’ll be from the sun. But sadly, nope. “It’s really a shame that it doesn’t work this way, but layering your SPF products—like spraying an SPF 15 face mist on top of an SPF 20 foundation—does not increase your overall protection to SPF 35,” says Sara L. Allen, MD, a board-certified dermatologist in Charleston, NC, and founder of Skin Clique. Why not? “Because the highest SPF you apply will ultimately lend you that level of protection,” she says.
Dr. Allen points to a 2017 study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, where patients were divided into two groups wearing either SPF 50 or SPF 100 on a sunny day in Colorado. “[The study] found that those who wore SPF 50 were 11 times more likely to burn than those wearing SPF 100,” says Dr. Allen. “The moral of the story is to find the highest SPF product that you will actually use on a daily basis,” she says.
Need help? We’ve got you covered with this year’s award-winning facial SPFs. Grab one of our best-tested, then play around with the makeup winners below.