The Beginner’s Guide To Using A Sunscreen For Oily Skin

People with oily skin feel that their face becomes more oily when they apply sunscreen. Their acne also seems to aggravate when they apply sunscreen, because of which they stop using sunscreen regularly.

In this post, let’s find out whether sunscreen is bad for oily skin and how to use sunscreen for oily skin without making it greasy.

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Is Sunscreen Bad For Oily Skin?

I get it – when you have oily skin, the last thing you want is to add more oil to your skin by using more skincare products.

Greasy sunscreen feels gross on your skin and makes you breakout.

It’s quite normal to assume that you should not use sunscreen for oily skin. But, it’s not true. Every skin type must use sunscreen.

There are a lot of sunscreens available in the market that won’t add more oil to your skin or lead to breakouts.

No more excuses. Wearing sunscreen regularly is a must. Sunscreen protects your skin from the harmful radiations of the sun. These UV radiations of the sun can damage your skin and even cause skin cancer.

The key is to find a product that protects your skin without irritating it. I understand that its a challenge to find the right sunscreen for oily skin, that does not leave your skin feeling more oily, and does not cause a chemical reaction.

Luckily, there is a plethora of sunscreens available in the market that don’t clog your pores and give a matte appearance to your skin.

How To Apply Sunscreen For Oily Skin

Before we figure out how to use sunscreen effectively, we need to know that we need to choose a broad-spectrum sunscreen.

Broad-spectrum sunscreen is one that gives us protection against Ultraviolet A radiation and Ultraviolet B radiation, and this would be mentioned in the sunscreen you choose.

The sunscreen should ideally be applied on all the exposed parts of the body – the face, the arms, the feet, about 15-30 minutes before you step out of the house.

For the sunscreen to be effective, we need to use a generous amount of sunscreen, and the standard is anywhere between 1/4th of a teaspoon to 1/3rd of a teaspoon to cover your face.

Dab the sunscreen on the surface of the skin, without rubbing it out. Wait for about 5 minutes and let the sunscreen get absorbed by the skin.

After applying the sunscreen, wait for about 15-30 minutes before you go out of the house.

If you are outdoors for a long period of time, you need to do a reapplication every couple of hours, i.e, every 2 hours you need to apply a thick layer of sunscreen again. This is because, after a couple of hours, the sunscreen that you have applied becomes ineffective on the skin.

If you can wash your face before the reapplication, that would be great.

Another common question that people ask is – do we need to use sunscreen on cloudy days, or in winters? The answer is – yes.

The ultraviolet light, i.e. the light we are trying to protect our skin from, more than 80% of it penetrates through cloud cover as well. So you need to use sunscreen on cloudy days as well.

You also need to use sunscreen in winters, on rainy days, in snowy areas, and even in the swimming pool – because then you are not only exposed to the UV light from the atmosphere, you also get the UV light reflected back from the snow, or the swimming pool.

Can Sunscreen Cause Pimples?

No, sunscreens do not cause pimples, and even people having pimples must apply sunscreen regularly.

This is because whenever you get acne or when you go out in the sun, your skin becomes more sensitive to the effect of the sunlight, so the chances of acne leaving behind dark spots are higher.

In order to reduce the appearance of dark spots on your skin, you need to use sunscreen on a regular basis.

Which Sunscreen Is Best For Oily Skin?

Most sunscreens are lotion-based, i.e., they have an oily base, and therefore they leave the skin feeling more oily. Sunscreens with an oily base can also increase your problems with pimples and acne.

People with oily skin find that their skin responds better to a gel-based sunscreen. A gel-based sunscreen is one that has water as its base, so it does not block the pores on the surface of the skin.

However, some people are not able to apply a gel-based sunscreen as well, because they sweat a lot and after a few hours of application of the sunscreen it appears like white particles on the surface of the skin.

For these people, it is better to use a compact or a translucent powder with SPF incorporated.

You can also use the compact powder for your retouches, i.e when you are re-applying the sunscreen every couple of hours when you are outdoors. It will give a matte appearance without aggravating your oily skin.

Also, note that the ingredients in the sunscreen take some time to be absorbed. So after applying the first coat, your skin will appear shiny.

After 5-10 minutes, the sunscreen will get fully absorbed by the skin and give a matte appearance to the skin.

For the other steps in an oily skin routine, learn more.

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2 thoughts on “The Beginner’s Guide To Using A Sunscreen For Oily Skin”

    • Hey Dyan. that’s very true. People are not aware of the importance of sunscreen. And Melanoma is infact becoming a major problem.

      Reply

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