Sunscreen application might seem intuitive — you squirt a bit onto your hand and rub into your face. But, there’s actually a specific amount you need to use for the SPF to be effective at its job.
And unfortunately, chances are you’re not using the necessary amount, which is leaving your skin exposed to the sun’s harmful UV rays. The recommended amount to apply is roughly 1/4 teaspoon of sunscreen for your face and 1/4 teaspoon for your neck and décolletage.
Before you go to the kitchen to start measuring your SPF in a teaspoon, there’s an easier way to calculate how much product you’re using on your face and neck and it doesn’t require any additional accessories.
A few months ago, I was watching the Instagram Stories of FlexMami (one of my favourite people to follow on the app) and she reposted a tweet from esthetician Tiara Willis on how to measure the correct amount of sunscreen you need to wear every day.
Willis has created a handy hack to make sure you’re slathering on enough SPF and it involves your index and middle fingers. Willis recommends squirting a line of sunscreen on the length of both fingers and that’s how much product you need for your face and neck.
like this kinda https://t.co/GRTKxWYD6M pic.twitter.com/2nZrW9Gp3U
— tiara willis (@MakeupForWOC) August 4, 2020
This might seem like a lot of sunscreen — and it is — but it’s the amount you need to properly protect your skin. Instead of thinking of SPF as something you wear to the beach or when you’re out and about, try to reframe it as skincare product. It’s something you should use every single day just like your serums, actives and moisturisers.
This also means that SPF should be apart of your skincare routine all year, not just in the summer months. Sunscreen doesn’t just help to prevent skin cancers and melanoma but it’s also an effective way to ward off signs of premature ageing.