I’m what they call an elder millennial. I’m in my early 40s, which means I lived through certain regrettable beauty trends—one of them being tanned skin. Everyone I knew either went to the tanning salon, used self-tanner religiously, or was fully committed to their Banana Boat Deep Tanning Oil. I wasn’t as hard-core as my friends who lubed up their legs with literal olive oil before lying out in the backyard, but any time I had the opportunity to be by a pool, I was set on getting my gams golden. Because I tanned easily, I never really thought about the harm those UV rays could cause, until I got sun poisoning twice in Palm Springs (with one incident resulting in permanent discoloration that lasers helped lighten a decade later).
If you can guess, another thing about us “elders” is that we weren’t as concerned with using SPF as people are now. Sure, I used sunscreen when I knew I was going to be out in the sun all day, but I never really thought about using it as part of my daily skincare routine. Now that I’m in my 40s, I’m obsessed with my SPF, and it’s something that really only happened in the past couple of years. Late bloomer, I guess! It doesn’t feel right if I don’t apply sun protection before I leave the house. (However, I still haven’t gotten to the point where I’m applying it when I don’t leave the house, even if blue-light damageis a thing.)
If you look around my apartment, there are bottles of sunscreen everywhere. In the bathroom, in the bedroom, on my desk, in my car, one in each purse. At one point, I realized I’ve been using at least five different forms of sun protection. And truth be told, I don’t even have a favorite. Similar to how I feel about the Spice Girls, I love them all! Keep scrolling to learn which SPF products are currently in my rotation—aka, which formulas I deem the best and totally worthy of your hard-earned money.