The Best SPF Products for Safe Summer Skin

With summer in full swing, adding SPF to your daily routine guarantees protection from the sun’s rays; plus, a glowy complexion. While sunscreen often only crosses our minds when heading out for a day at the beach, it’s important to wear SPF year round as it helps prevent skin aging and decreases your risk of developing skin cancer. Sunscreen doesn’t have to be the thick lotion with a heavy white cast that our mothers’ smeared across our faces when we were younger, it can be incorporated into products you already use. Whether you’ll be spending your summer at the beach or relaxing indoors, here’s a list of some must-have SPF products to protect your skin and look good while doing so.

Screen Shot 2021-07-18 at 6.12.11 PM.png

While some sunscreens may feel heavy and irritating on the skin, Supergoop!’s Unseen Sunscreen melts into the skin without any white cast or fragrance. This sunscreen doubles as a makeup primer and grips onto makeup for the perfect natural finish. As an oil-free, reef-safe, and vegan product, your skin (and the environment) will thank you.

Supergoop! Unseen Sunscreen SPF 40 PA+++, $34; sephora.com

Screen Shot 2021-07-18 at 6.12.48 PM.png

Incorporating more SPF into your daily routine ensures greater coverage from the sun, and this color balm by Colorescience also adds a bright pop of color to your makeup look. Available in three shimmering shades, this color balm can be used as a cream blush, lip color, or even a cream eyeshadow. With an SPF 50, your skin will look perfectly flushed without risking sun damage.

Colorescience Sunforgettable Total Protection Color Balm SPF 50, $30; colorescience.com

Screen Shot 2021-07-18 at 6.13.14 PM.png

Despite hundreds of sunscreen options for your face and body, protecting your scalp and hair from the sun’s rays is often overlooked. Keeping your scalp safe from sunburn is especially important since the top of your head is likely in direct sunlight. Applying regular sunscreen to your scalp can leave your hair feeling greasy, so this lightweight mist aims to keep your scalp safe from the sun and your hair nourished.

Sun Bum Scalp & Hair Mist SPF 30, $15; sunbum.com

Screen Shot 2021-07-18 at 6.13.47 PM.png

To achieve the perfect summertime glow, this tinted moisturizer enhances your natural skin with buildable coverage and a radiant finish. The lightweight formula blends into skin smoothly without feeling heavy or cakey. This tinted moisturizer also contains vitamin C which works to even your skin tone for more radiant natural skin. Try pairing this product with a cream blush and a highlighter for the best shimmering skin this summer.

NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer Broad Spectrum SPF 30, $45; sephora.com

Screen Shot 2021-07-18 at 6.14.34 PM.png

Don’t neglect your lips this summer — they’re begging to be just as moisturized as the rest of your skin. Lips are as susceptible to sunburn as the rest of your skin, so swipe on a sunscreen lip balm to protect the thin skin on your lips. Renowned tennis player Venus Williams founded EleVen by Venus Williams to create more inclusive and environmentally friendly sunscreens, and the brand recently launched a tinted lip balm with SPF 15. With a hint of color, this lip balm hydrates, protects, and leaves you with a pout fit for a champion.

EleVen by Venus Williams Perfect Form Lip Balm SPF 15, $19; ulta.com