The One Skin Care Habit That You Need to Adopt Right Now

This is One Thing, a column with tips on how to live.

Many dermatologists will tell you that before you start to consider fancy serums and expensive treatments to preserve and beautify your face, you really just need to take basic care of your skin. Cleansing and moisturizing and, say, dabbing on a little salicylic acid (for exfoliating) will go a long way. But perhaps most importantly: You have to wear sunscreen.

Sunscreen is the miracle cream that we all take for granted, probably because it’s so cheap and was slathered onto us against our will as kids. It protects your skin from the harmful effects of the 865,000-mile-wide star that blazes down on us each day. It helps prevent skin cancer, age spots, and wrinkles. Are you worried about your skin’s health? Use sunscreen. Are you at all vain? Sunscreen.

Although the store aisle may confront you with myriad options, the best sunscreen is the one you’ll apply often and liberally. (A recent Atlantic article argues that our national zeal for sunscreen has gone too far; I just do not think I’m consistent enough at application, even when I really try, for a lack of sun exposure to be an issue.) Regardless of your preferred brand and formula—and, despite the relative paucity of options in America vs. everywhere else on the globe, there really are a lot these days, including sunscreen that goes on clear—the ideal place for sunscreen is right by the door. And the right quantity is in bulk. 

Here, I have two specific suggestions, both of which have changed my life for the better in small but meaningful ways. One, have a sunscreen shelf, where you can easily access the product and apply it right as you leave your home. (I live in an apartment, so I have a small floating shelf.) Two, buy a giant pump bottle of the stuff—I have this 18-ounce bottle of Supergoop’s Play sunscreen.

It smells nice, it doesn’t leave a white cast, it plays well with facial hair, and kids like using the pump. It isn’t the least expensive sunscreen out there, but in the large format, it’s also not ungodly pricey when you break it down in cost per ounce. I have a collection of drugstore-brand spray sunscreens that I’ll grab if I’m going to the beach or on a long run in the sun. But for everyday use, this is what has gotten me to commit to the habit.