While you may be seeking out the sun’s rays this summer, it’s essential to layer up your skincare with SPF to stay protected. Hopefully, we are all aware that SPF should be incorporated into our skincare routine throughout the year, but it is in the sunny summer months that use becomes essential on both body and face.
Sun Safe
Luckily, there are a plethora of options for sun-seekers to help protect their skin, although it is worth noting that to stay safe sun exposure is best avoided when the sun is at its peak, roughly between 11am and 3pm.
For ultra-hydration: Reach for a gel-based cream. Byoma makes accessible, affordable products which works to protect the skin’s barrier. Containing hyaluronic acid and a tri-ceramide complex, this is the ultimate in affordable skincare with benefits.
£14.99 byoma.com
For the best base: We came for the SPF, we stayed for the power of the prime. Sculpted by Aimee Connolly’s Beauty Base is everything you could wish for. This universal cream provides the perfect base for makeup leaving skin glowing and snatched, all while bestowing a generous SPF30.
For scent-free, sustainable protection: Winning on two counts, this fragrance-free facial sunscreen from Green People offers high protection with quick absorption. The vegan formula provides some natural water-repellence and also contains green tea and soothing aloe vera.
£25.50 greenpeople.co.uk
For keeping your cool: Not only will Lancaster’s Cooling Mist offer instant, invisible protection, it also cools as it does so. Touch dry on application, it’s one outdoor activity enthusiasts should reach for. Can even be applied effectively on wet skin.
For suncare as makeup: With pleasingly innovative delivery, Milk Makeup’s new Sunshine Skin Tint is dispensed through an antimicrobial glass rollerball to provide broad spectrum sun protection (SPF30) alongside skin-perfecting tint in 14 sheer, adaptable shades.
£39 sephora.co.uk
For award-winning skincare: QMS have a brand philosophy: science not miracles. Their Cellular Sunshield has SPF50+ and contains their patented DNA Repair Complex to defend skin whilst also stimulating its own capacity to self-repair. Suitable for all skin types, it feels lightweight and luxurious in use.
For family holidays: Used by the Ministry of Defense and recommended by the NHS, Delph’s updated collection includes an easy to apply SPF50+ which is priced to be used liberally by the whole family and their new formula is extra water resistant.
£7.65 weldricks.co.uk
For applying over makeup: The Preen Screen Reapplication Mist is a gamechanger if, like us, you’re fed up with having to redo make up after topping up your protection. Six sprays will maintain levels or if you’re using this without another SPF underneath, up the amount to at least nine. The super lightweight mist will settle over the face without melting off your base, plus it leaves a reviving (but not sweaty) glow.
£32.00 ultraviolette.co.uk
Sunless
Using a high protection factor needn’t stop you looking your best bronzed self. Just reach for one of these marvellous sunless tanning solutions…
First up, let us urge you to get your hands on a buffing brush. Our preferred method for applying tan is a velour mitt but once you’ve swooshed product over your body, a couple of minutes buffing with a brush around tricky areas like fingers, toes, wrists, heels and hairline will help soften harsh lines or blur out any blotches. Skinny Tan’s brush is as soft as you could wish for and yet maintains its integral structure. Pick one up for £14.99, and while you’re at it add Skinny Tan’s Self-Tanning Whip to your shopping basket. This super thick mousse glides over the skin and the guide colour pretty much negates any risk of patchiness. Allow eight hours for it to fully develop and leave you Med-worthy. The latest edition has a yummy cupcake fragrance in celebration of the brand’s tenth anniversary.
£21.99 skinnytan.co.uk
Hopefully the once seemingly inevitable stench of old biscuit will soon be a thing of the past. In addition to Skinny Tan, the iconic St Tropez have been taking on the fragrance challenge. Their Self Tan Berry Sorbet Mousse smells like a summer dessert while tanning like a summer at the beach.
£34 boots.com
If you’re after instant gratification, then He Shi has your back (and front, legs and arms). Their HD Wonder Glow is better-looking skin in a bottle (or tube, to be precise). Not only does it give immediate colour, but it also blurs the appearance of any imperfections and leaves a luminous glow. Once dry, it won’t budge until you wash it off.
£18.50 he-shi.eu
Designed to deliver as much or as little colour as you want, tanning drops are added to your usual moisturiser to bronze the face. They are widely available but the best options include additional ingredients to benefit your skin while bestowing their glow. The Votary drops are packed with hyaluronic acid for extra hydration and soothing calendula. A treat to use.
£35 cultbeauty.co.uk
Legs often lag behind the rest of the body when it comes to all-over colour. This Works has an entire range dedicated to ‘Perfect Legs’ including a Gradual Tan (which could also be used anywhere on the body). Applied daily it builds to give a fabulously realistic colour with the added benefit of ensuring you are moisturising your legs consistently – never a bad thing.
£28.50 thisworks.com
And finally, you’ve buffed, you’ve bronzed and now you need – and deserve – to shine. Two options for you; one, Ciaté London’s Dewy Stix Sun Catcher (£22 ciatelondon.com) is a solid body oil, so perfect for packing or when you need a quick slick’n’go. The other is Tan Luxe, The Glow (£29 tan-luxe.com). This heavenly fragranced oil contains a blend of nourishing oils and light reflecting pigments to make you perma-bathed in golden light.
