The search for a sunscreen that is appropriate for oily skin can be a frustrating, lifelong pursuit. Even those I’ve created for my line can pose problems for some people. There are difficulties of several kinds. First, the types of ingredients that can be used to suspend sunscreen agents are not exactly the best for oily skin. Regardless of the claim on the label, there are risks that the base formulation can clog pores or feel slippery or greasy on the skin. There’s also the problem that the sunscreen ingredients themselves can cause an irritated breakout reaction, a response to the synthetically derived sunscreen agents. (Regrettably, that is the nature of almost all active ingredients used in cosmetics—“active” meaning they actually do something on the skin. Whether they are AHAs, Renova, benzoyl peroxide, hydroquinone, or sunscreen ingredients, if they work, they can be irritating.) In the case of titanium dioxide and zinc oxide, even though they are relatively innocuous and have minimal to no risk of irritation on skin, they can still clog pores, being the thick and occulsive ingredients that they are. Finally, given the wide variety in formulations, there is no way to quantify which ingredients are more problematic than others for causing problems. What’s my advice? The only true answer is to experiment. I wish there was a slam-dunk solution I could offer, but there are no product lines that can legitimately make the claim that their sunscreen won’t cause breakouts (and those of you with this problem already know that).
For oily skin, or any skin type for that matter, wearing a foundation with a high SPF is an excellent idea, particularly for women with oily skin who don’t want to wear layers of skin-care products. This is also an option for women who are just tired of wearing layers and layers of skin-care products and makeup. Luckily, there are now many well-formulated foundations and tinted moisturizers with good SPF numbers containing avobenzone, titanium dioxide, or zinc oxide (with the latter two being far more common than foundations with avobenzone). The one negative about using a foundation with sunscreen is that you need to apply it generously; thin, sheer applications don’t work. Plus, as the foundation shifts during the day it is essential to touch it up with a pressed powder containing an SPF 15 that includes the UVA-protecting ingredients of avobenzone, titanium dioxide, or zinc oxide.
If you wear a foundation with a good SPF you might forget to use a sunscreen on your hands, neck, throat, chest, or any other area of your body that is exposed to the sun on a daily basis. If so, those brown “age spots” and crepy skin texture are related to sun damage. Like wrinkling on the face, wrinkling on the rest of the body can’t be mitigated without daily use of sunscreen, and that means reapplying your sunscreen every time you wash your hands and taking care to put sunscreen on any exposed parts of your body, day in and day out.