The 10 Best Moisturizers With SPF to Keep Your Face Looking Younger, Longer
While the “baseline skincare regimen” is often preached as a three-step routine (cleanse, exfoliate, moisturize), it is actually lacking one of the most imperative skincare steps of all: sun defense. This daily UV protection is the absolutely best way to prevent accelerated signs of aging—like rough skin, dark spots, fine lines and wrinkles—not to mention skin cancer, too. And it’s those incremental exposures that you need to be most mindful of, on the days you’re not sprawling out in the park or at the beach. Maybe you’re outside for just 20 minutes a day, but those minutes add up over the week, month, year, lifetime. Even in winter, you need SPF protection. And because of this daily requirement, SPF-packed moisturizer becomes a necessary product to have in your arsenal.
Read on for expertise about the differences between SPF moisturizers and regular sunscreens, as well as the primary types of SPFs to consider, with advice from board-certified dermatologist Rina Weimann, M.D. of Schweiger Dermatology in North Wales, PA. We’ve also got our list of the 10 best SPF moisturizers to round it all out.
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Regular Sunscreen vs. SPF Moisturizer
While SPF moisturizers may not all have the same amount of SPF defense as regular sunscreens, they still have enough to be labeled with their respective SPF level, and they’ll last the requisite two hours, too. (This is the time before you would need to reapply any standard sunscreen.) But above all, they also offer the nourishment and moisture-barrier defense that you require from a facial moisturizer: “By adding SPF to other moisturizing ingredients such as hyaluronic acid, ceramides, and vitamin E, you are able to help protect your skin from the sun’s harmful UV rays while hydrating your skin and protecting your skin barrier,” says Weimann.
Chemical vs. Mineral SPF
Some people have a preference regarding the type of SPF they use, even in a facial moisturizer. You’ll see a variety of active sunscreen ingredients on product labels, but they can be divided into two primary categories—chemical options, and mineral/physical options.
Chemical sunscreens: These ingredients (like oxybenzone, avobenzone, octisalate, and octocrylene) soak into the skin and absorb any UV rays that attempt to enter, says Weimann. It is believed that some of these chemicals can disrupt the body’s hormones once absorbed into the bloodstream, which makes them a no-go for many people. “However, there are no studies to date showing that chemical sunscreen absorption has been linked to cancer,” Weimann adds.
Mineral sunscreens: Zinc oxide and titanium dioxide are the two primary mineral sunscreen ingredients, and they sit atop the skin (rather than being absorbed). Here, they deflect UV rays from entering the skin. “Mineral sunscreens work as soon as you apply them to the skin, whereas sunscreens containing chemical ingredients often take at least 20 minutes to work, which means that your skin is not protected for 20 minutes,” says Weimann. “Also, mineral sunscreens are less likely to be pore-clogging and irritating and as a result, are ideal for those with acne-prone or sensitive skin.” She adds that mineral picks also tend to last longer when in direct UV light compared to chemical sunscreens—in the event you can’t reapply at the recommended two-hour interval. They are usually favored for children and sensitive skin, too.
Blue Light Defense
One increasingly common observation is the impact of long-term High-Energy Visible light (HEV light or blue light) on the skin. This is the type of light emitted by our phones, computers, tablets, TVs, and such. “The growing body of evidence reveals that blue light exposure may cause oxidative stress on the skin resulting in premature aging (i.e. fine lines, wrinkles, age spots) and causes damage to the skin cells (also referred to keratinocytes and melanocytes), which may lead to textural changes and dyspigmentation of the skin,” says Weimann. She says that iron oxide is the gold standard ingredient in defense against this, which is commonly found in tinted moisturizers. However, many brands are featuring different extracts in an effort to neutralize blue light’s impact, like cerium and lingonberry extract. As a general line of defense, a mineral SPF moisturizer is a great way to proactively protect your skin. But, don’t worry about the intensity of this light compared to that of UV rays; the latter is far more damaging to skin as we know it. But this only reinforces the importance of a daily application of SPF moisturizer, regardless of whether it’s spent indoors or outside, in summer or winter.
Best Overall: Supergoop Sunscreen Daily Moisturizer SPF 40
Lightweight, highly nourishing, and long-lasting. Supergoop’s daily moisturizer is perfect for year-round wear, offering high SPF 40 protection that doesn’t make you sweat, has added defenses for blue light exposure (like phones, tablets, computers), and fortifies skin against toxins and pollution (thanks to algae extract and plant fermentations). The only potential strike against it is that it’s a chemical SPF, which doesn’t bother us, but if you want a mineral pick, look to the next product on this list.
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Best Mineral SPF Moisturizer: Ursa Major Force Field SPF 40
We’ve long adored Ursa Major’s SPF 18 Force Field moisturizer, but have also long awaited this SPF 30 take on the same product. It is instantly beloved. Force Field SPF 30 shields your skin with a generous mineral defense (zinc oxide 14.95%), while squalane and sodium hyaluronate quench your skin of any thirst and keep that new moisture trapped. Lingonberry stem cells and elfdoc flower extract are added to help protect your skin from constant blue light exposure, too—since we know you’re reading this on your phone or computer.
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Best Luxury Buy: Elemis Pro-Collagen Marine Cream SPF 30
Elemis’s’ entire assortment is enriched with various algae extracts, which deeply hydrate the skin and keep it looking firm and even-toned. While this SPF 30 day cream has a lower level of sunscreen ingredients than others (just two percent), it is a perfect late-afternoon or sitting-by-the-window option, just to ensure you have protection from the waning rays. Not to mention, a cream this concentrated with good ingredients shant be sweat away at the height of summer; use other products for the heavy lifting, then pair this one with an aperitif and a beach umbrella.
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Best Value: Cetaphil SPF 50 Daily Facial Moisturizer
Cetaphil is one of those high-batch drugstore brands that every dermatologist loves (in the company of Dove, CeraVe, and Eucerin). It’s one of the best brands on a budget, and this SPF 50 moisturizer is also one of the best for dry skin types and acne-prone individuals. It wears light, nourishes skin for 8 hours (though SPF should be reapplied every two hours, no matter the brand or product), and its non-comedogenic formula promises not to clog pores.
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Best for Athletes: Vertra Beach Break Daily Facial Moisturizer SPF 30
Vertra has one of the best sunscreen assortments, especially for frequent beachgoers and outdoor athletes. If you exercise outside, you want a water-resistant SPF, and Vertra’s will protect you against the sun despite your sweating for up to 40 minutes. So, apply before you head out, appreciate the gloss-free lightweight layer (unlike heavyset sunscreens), and work up that sweat.
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Best for Acne-Prone Skin: Apostrophe ‘Screen SPF 43 Sunscreen
Apostrophe is the brand for acne-prone skin. Which makes them the go-to for non-comedogenic SPF products, too. And while they position this product primarily as a sunscreen, it is packed with hydrating hyaluronic acid and panthenol, as well as soothing allantoin. These ingredients alone elevate it to facial moisturizer status—but the sunscreen itself is also higher and more densely concentrated than most SPF hydrators (17.5%, with a mix of mineral and chemical sunscreens), hence their chosen nomenclature.
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Best for Oily Skin: Mario Badescu Oil-Free Moisturizer SPF 30
If you’ve got oily skin, then you want an oil-free moisturizer—otherwise it’s going to feel suffocating on your face. Mario Badescu’s not only lacks oil, but it also contains antioxidant-rich green tea (to help bounce toxins) as well as soothing aloe vera. It absorbs quickly and wears light. Best of all, it won’t clog pores, making it equally ideal for acne-prone types.
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Best for Fair Skin: La Roche-Posay Anthelios SPF 60
If you have extremely fair skin and what you need is SPF 50+ protection, then just make sure your facial regimen product has some kind of nourishment in addition to toxin and UV defense. La Roche-Posay’s superb offering has all of that and more (including 80-minute resistance to sweat and water). This one is oil-free, too, so it’s non-comedogenic on oily and acne-prone skin.
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Best Tinted Moisturizer: COOLA Rosilliance Golden Hour SPF 30
Tinted moisturizers aren’t for everyone; first of all, you need to make sure you get one that blends easily with your skin tone. But once you’ve got the right color, a tinted moisturizer can help “even out” an otherwise inconsistent skin tone, bringing everything to a more neutral, balanced center. This mineral one from COOLA offers three tones, a titanium dioxide shield, blends cleanly, and leaves skin with a radiant glow—and a thorough defense against UV rays. It’s also got iron oxide, which is one of the best defenses against everyday exposure to blue-light devices.
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Best for Your Body: Supergoop Body Butter SPF 40
Many brands make face-dedicated moisturizers, but few also produce a body-dedicated lotion. Leave it to Supergoop, the brand that innovates sun defense, to deliver this SPF 50-packed body lotion. This product shields the entire body from UV rays, while also pumping antioxidants into the skin for an all-over defense against environmental aggressors. You might even sub it in for your favorite body sunscreen, given how light, glowy, and luxurious it wears.
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