I know.

You’ve heard it approximately 400 times.

Wear sunscreen.

Reapply your sunscreen.

Wear sunscreen when it’s cloudy.

Wear sunscreen when you’re sitting near a window.

At this point, SPF advice has become the skincare equivalent of someone reminding you to drink water.

We get it.

Except… annoyingly, they’re right.

Of all the skincare habits I’ve become obsessed with over the years, SPF might be the least exciting and the most important.

You can buy the expensive serum.

Do the face masks.

Get the facial.

Drink the water.

Eat the papaya.

But if you’re regularly exposing your skin to UV radiation without protecting it, you’re working against a lot of what you’re trying to achieve with everything else.

And once I actually understood what SPF was protecting my skin from, wearing it stopped feeling like another annoying skincare rule.

It became non-negotiable.

The sun is doing more than giving you a tan

I love the sun.

I am absolutely not about to sit here and pretend I want to spend my life hiding indoors lol. 

Give me beach days.

Give me sunshine.

Give me an iced matcha outside.

Give me driving with the windows down when the weather finally gets good.

Sunlight is part of life.

But UV radiation can damage skin cells, and that damage accumulates over time.

There are two types you’ll hear about most in skincare: UVA and UVB.

UVB is strongly associated with sunburn.

UVA penetrates more deeply into the skin and contributes to premature skin ageing, including wrinkles and pigmentation.

And both UVA and UVB can contribute to skin cancer.

This is why sunscreen isn’t really about being scared of the sun.

It’s about enjoying it while giving your skin some backup.

SPF is probably your best anti-ageing product

Here’s the mildly irritating part.

We spend so much money trying to reverse signs of ageing when one of the most effective things we can do is help prevent some of that damage in the first place.

UV exposure contributes to photoageing, the premature ageing of skin caused by repeated exposure to ultraviolet radiation.

We’re talking pigmentation, uneven skin tone, changes in texture, fine lines and loss of elasticity.

And no, ageing isn’t something we need to be terrified of.

Wrinkles aren’t a personal failure.

But if you’re spending money trying to keep your skin healthy, wearing SPF consistently makes a lot of sense.

Think of it as protecting your investment.

Your vitamin C serum would like some job security.

Yes, even when it’s cloudy

This one used to get me.

I’d look outside, see grey skies and think:

Well, obviously the sun has taken the day off.

Unfortunately, UV radiation didn’t receive that memo.

UVA can penetrate clouds and glass, which means exposure doesn’t exclusively happen while you’re lying on the beach in 30-degree weather.

This doesn’t mean you need to develop an anxiety disorder around windows.

It just means daily SPF makes life much easier.

Instead of constantly trying to calculate whether today is “sunny enough” to justify sunscreen, I treat it like brushing my teeth.

Morning skincare.

Moisturizer.

SPF.

Done.

No meteorological investigation required.

The SPF number actually means something

SPF stands for Sun Protection Factor, and it primarily measures protection against UVB radiation.

For everyday use, dermatologists commonly recommend a broad-spectrum SPF 30 or higher, which means you’re getting protection against both UVA and UVB.

And here’s something I didn’t always understand:

SPF isn’t a force field.

Putting it on at 8am doesn’t necessarily mean you’re covered indefinitely.

If you’re spending significant time outdoors, swimming or sweating, sunscreen needs to be reapplied according to the product instructions, commonly around every two hours while outside, and after swimming or heavy sweating.

Which is mildly inconvenient.

But so is most worthwhile maintenance.

And please put it on your neck

And your chest.

And your ears.

And your hands.

Basically, anywhere regularly exposed to the sun deserves some attention.

I think a lot of us have a twelve-step skincare routine for our face and then treat everything below the jawline like it’s someone else’s responsibility.

Your neck is coming with you.

Protect her too.

Find one you actually like wearing

This changed everything for me.

The best sunscreen isn’t necessarily the one with the fanciest packaging or the longest list of ingredients.

It’s the one you’ll actually wear.

If you hate how it feels, you’re going to avoid it.

So find your SPF personality.

Something lightweight.

Something hydrating.

Something glowy.

Something matte.

Something that sits nicely underneath makeup.

Something that doesn’t make you feel like you’ve covered your face in wall paint.

There are so many formulas now that wearing sunscreen doesn’t have to feel like the thick white cream your mom aggressively rubbed onto your face at the beach when you were seven.

We’ve evolved.

The boring habits usually win

This is something I’m learning about wellness in general.

The habits that make the biggest difference usually aren’t particularly exciting.

Sleep.

Water.

Movement.

Eating properly.

Going outside.

Managing stress.

Wearing sunscreen.

They’re not sexy hacks.

Nobody is going to become a wellness influencer by revealing the groundbreaking information that you should probably sleep enough and wear SPF.

But consistency with the basics does more than constantly chasing the next miracle product.

My take

I’m never going to stop loving the sun.

I’m still going to the beach.

I’m still going to sit outside with my iced matcha.

I’m still going to enjoy summer.

I’m just bringing SPF with me.

Because taking care of your skin doesn’t mean being afraid of living your life.

It means protecting it while you do.

So yes, I’m going to become one of those annoying people who tells you to wear sunscreen.

You can roll your eyes.

Just apply it while you’re doing it.