A lot of sunscreens claim to be sheer. But as a discerning beauty director who happens to have been born with brown skin, I've often felt compelled to ask, "sheer ON WHO?" [Insert side eye.] The only true test of a product's transparency is on dark skin, and I speak from experience when I say most sunscreens do not live up to the hype.
Growing up with an Irish-German father who turned beet red just thinking about the sun—as my African-American mother liked to say teasingly—I took pride in coating his freckled shoulders with coconut-scented, yogurt-textured sunscreens that smelled like summertime. Sometimes I'd even sneak in a little swipe on my nose for fun. Of course, it never blended into my caramel complexion quite like it did on his. In fact, any attempts at going full on with SPF left me looking like an ashy smurf. (Let that visual sink in for a minute...)
I always found this perplexing. But my mom, who has a gorgeous dark chocolate coloring, assured me that we had our own natural SPF built right into our brown skin. The idea of being in possession of some kind of magical power was too hard to resist. (This might even shed a tiny ray of light on why 63 percent of African Americans have never worn sunscreen[1], according to a 2010 study by the American Journal of Preventative Medicine.) So I went with it, living a life virtually unencumbered by the whole murky SPF thing.
Until my dad got diagnosed with skin cancer.
Luckily, he won his battle with melanoma, the deadly disease that is now the most common form of cancer[2] for people ages 25-29 and the second most common in young adults ages 15-29. But during his routine doctor visits, my family got a serious wake up call about the fact that sun damage doesn't discriminate. Whether you're as pale as my dad, as dark as my mom, or somewhere in-between, like me, we all need to slather on full-spectrum sunscreen, every day, no matter what. Period the end.
But it didn't solve my lifelong quandary. If everyone is supposed to take sun protection seriously, why is it so hard to find one that complements brown skin?
Let's just say that even as a beauty editor who tests gazillions of product for a living, the struggle has been real.
Fast forward to the sunny shores of Bora Bora where I finally found the one: L'Oréal Paris[3].
"OH MY GOD, THIS ACTUALLY WORKS!!!" I couldn't help shouting out the personal victory that was unfolding all over my body.
It checks every single box. Think full-spectrum, non-greasy, non-irritating, not-overly-scented, cooling gel that leaves skin glowy—and most significant of all, it's ACTUALLY sheer. And by sheer, I mean completely undetectable. It is, effectively, the hands-down game-changing SPF for brown girls everywhere. And thankfully, the price (just $11) is something we can all get behind. If you, like me, have fallen victim to a sadly chalky sunscreen in your past, I dare you to give this a try. Be sure to tell me in the comments how it goes—I have a feeling you won't be disappointed.
Related:
The Best Makeup With SPF
Teen Vogue's Editors Test the Latest in SPF
Don't Get Burned! Here, Teen Vogue's Awesomely Comprehensive Guide to SPF
[4][5][6]
References
- ^ 63 percent of African Americans have never worn sunscreen (phys.org)
- ^ most common form of cancer (www.skincancer.org)
- ^ L'Oréal Paris (www.drugstore.com)
- ^ The Best Makeup With SPF (www.teenvogue.com)
- ^ Teen Vogue's Editors Test the Latest in SPF (www.teenvogue.com)
- ^ Don't Get Burned! Here, Teen Vogue's Awesomely Comprehensive Guide to SPF (www.teenvogue.com)
Source : http://www.teenvogue.com/beauty/skin-care/2015-06/clear-sunscreen-for-brown-skin
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