I spent 9 years in Arizona, California, Hawaii, Florida and Texas. I just had a lesion removed from my scalp (fortunately benign!) that the surgeon told me was directly attributed to overexposure to the sun. I have a lot of capillaries (spideweb) on my cheeks caused by overexposure to the sun. I was in the military and used hang out at the beach every chance I got. In fact, in Hawaii, I practically lived on the beach. I spent a lot of time outdoors in Texas and Arizona and as a kid in Kansas...well, anyone who lives in Kansas knows how hot and sunny it is here. We wore "suntan lotions" Maybe in the 60s and by the 70s and 80s I was using stuff that was supposed to enhance your tan and not protective at all. About 1984, I saw what the Florida sun was doing to the fiancé of my sister-in-law's brother. I quit hanging out in the sun, totally exposed like that. I made sure I was using good sunscreens and sometimes would wear a hat to keep the sun out of my face. I still hang out, outside, love to go to the lake, the seashore, I used run a lot, I work my farm but I always wear a cap with a brim. When I'm on the farm, I wear an Amish style hat with a wide brim (those guys know what they were doing...). I also wear sunglasses. Repeated overexposure to bright sun can lead to premature cataracts. You need Vitamin D from the sun. Being outdoors and enjoying the fresh air is good for you. Just be careful of overexposure and protect yourself, especially kids. Start protecting at a young age. Get a high SPf and wear sunglasses!

The brand is LaRoche-Posay. A big company in France. Our government must approve everything (they are so smart after all), and they just recently approved mexoryl. The cost included shipping and it is 100ml tube which will last me a long time since I don't use it all over. It is 60 SPF for sun reactive skin. And yes PrairiePB, if you are going to peel, you must protect the new skin underneath. I would recomment this but the forehead cannot have sunscreen when you are going outside to sweat. All sunscreens run into your eyes and set them on fire. So you have to wear a hat. I don't have a 20 year old face. After all, you can still see I am of a certain age, and stress is hard on the skin and I've had my share for sure. They say that the reason certain chemicals work to reduce wrinkles is that they burn the skin just a bit (not talking about a peel here). The burned skin is rejuvenated by an increase in collagen. Retin-A works that way. So, if you put Garden-strength vinegar on your face wouldn't that burn it too? Am I getting too cheap?

I have very sensitive skin but have never heard of anyone that couldn't wear a face lotion. Can you not find an unscented, sensitive skin face lotion with sun proctection in it? I'm guessing maybe you just don't like the feel of lotions on your face??? I used to be like that and thought they clogged my pores, etc... but you really just need to shop around. If that is the case with you, there are many face lotions that don't feel lotiony and heavy but rather feel kind of light and almost go on more like water. Is that you problem? Of course I wouldn't put regular sunscreen on your face.. but most face lotions contain sunscreen. In fact, it's hard ot find a face lotion without some in it nowadays. And, many brands don't leave your face feeling greasy. There are some make-ups (mineral powders, foundations, etc) that provide sun protection too, but those will usually cause an adverse reaction on sensitive skin far more quicker than a face lotion would. I'm not personally convinced that you need anything over 15 or 30 sun protection on your face.... Unless you're outside all day or something. I think some of the higher protections are just too thick and don't really do much more than the lower ones. You may want to do some research on that yourself. You do need to make sure that UVA and UVB are both included in the sunscreen, and from what I understand, there are some newer products that contain coverage for even more sun protection...not a higher number but more along the lines of coverage from a different spectrum of the sun. If you are highly sensitive to the sun or prone to skin cancer and such, you may want to do some more research on that too. There's a lot out there.. some of it priced quite reasonably.

I use a moisturizer with SPF30 on my face and neck in the morning, every day. If I am going to be outside in the sun for any length of time I will apply a higher strength SPF (usually SPF50) to any exposed skin before heading out, including the areas that got the moisturizer in the morning. It is much more important to be sure you use enough sunscreen, use a broad spectrum sunscreen and reapply than worrying about before or after moisturizer, IMHO.