Kelli Clifton chats with dermatologist Dr Vanessa Lapiner and professional skincare specialist Sonette Donker about why sunscreen remains the most important product in your everyday skincare routine. If you’re on the fence about SPF, this article’s for you.

Is it just me, or has there been an alarming number of anti-sunscreen posts on social media lately? On Threads, I read an interesting post where someone said that people hating on sunscreen wasn’t on their 2024 bingo card. And rightly so. According to the 2022 National Cancer Registry (NCR) report, melanoma is in the top five cancers in men and women (fourth in men and fifth in women). We, as South Africans, shouldn’t take that alarming statistic lightly.

Common misconceptions about sunscreen

After chatting to a few people and asking them whether they wore sunscreen – or not – I wanted to know the main reasons for them not applying daily SPF. The general consensus was the way it felt on the skin. Many agree that sunscreens have “heavy-feeling”, greasy-like formulas that leave an obvious white cast on your skin. They also don’t like the way sunscreen doesn’t absorb properly.

My advice would be to dabble in different formulas. In today’s world, we have gels, oils, sprays, lightweight lotions, and rich creams. There are sunscreen tint options that even out the skin tone while simultaneously protecting it from UV rays. So, please shop around. Chat with a skincare professional. Daily protection is an effective way to protect your skin.

Sonette believes that consumers refrain from adding sunscreen to their routine because they think it will make their skin oily, clog pores, and cause breakouts.

Dr Lapiner, on the other hand, feels the main misconception involves application, with consumers feeling the need to only apply sunscreen while on a summer holiday or at the beach or pool.

“Sunscreen should be a daily habit,” she says.

Routine check

Including SPF in your routine is easier than you think.

“Invest in a moisturiser, primer, or foundation that already contains a sunscreen. This ensures your skin is protected and eliminates an additional step in the morning,” Sonette advises.

“I keep sunscreen next to my kids’ toothbrushes, and it’s something they put on each day without hesitation,” says Dr Lapiner. “It needs to become a habit. The ‘easiest’ way really depends on your level of skincare commitment. If you wear make-up, then switching out your foundation for a tinted sunscreen is an easy swap. At the end of the day, if you’re invested in protecting your largest organ, you’ll do whatever it takes!”

The age debate

When should we start applying sunscreen? (Take notes, parents-to-be.)

“This depends on the type of sunscreen,” says Dr Lapiner. “Chemical filter sunscreens are recommended from the age of six months onwards. It’s obviously best to keep your small babies out of the sun as much as possible, but if they are going to be in direct sunlight, I would apply a mineral sunscreen with zinc oxide even under six months of age. Many nappy rash creams contain zinc oxide, which is applied from birth, so there is no issue from a safety perspective.”

Did you know?

You need very small doses of vitamin D per day. According to research, about 5 to 15 minutes of sunlight (10 minutes if you’re fair) between 10:00 and 15:00 twice a week on the face, arms, legs, or back without sunscreen will enable you to produce enough of the vitamin.

“I tell my patients that the ‘safe’ zone is 20 minutes before sunset to enjoy their ‘sun’ time without the use of sunscreen,” says Dr Lapiner. “I also advise them to test their vitamin D levels, and then we supplement where required. Keep in mind that vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin, so you need to continue to monitor levels if supplementing. It’s not one of the vitamins where you just excrete the excess.”

From clients to sunscreen enthusiasts

Ask any dermatologist or skin professional what their tropical island “must-have” is, and we’ll guarantee that every single one will say sunscreen.

But how do we get the rest of the population to follow suit?

“Most of my clients always say they want skin like mine,” says Sonette.

(We can vouch for this. Sonette is #SkinGoals!)

“I then let them know that I use sunscreen daily and believe it’s the best anti-ageing product you can invest in. After a peel, for example, it’s vital to apply sunscreen. Generally speaking, I include sunscreen as a basic skincare step for the morning: cleanse, moisturise, and apply sunscreen,” she explains.

“The patients who’ve had skin cancers excised are not even the ones most easily converted!” says Dr Lapiner. “The quickest converts are the patients invested in healthy ageing of their skin. As soon as you explain that sunscreen is the most effective anti-ageing product, they’re sold! Even better are my pigmentation patients who have spent money in practice on peels, microneedling, or laser treatments. They become sunscreen and hat zealots – once they’ve worked hard to reverse the skin signs of sun damage, there is no way they’re going to put their skin in the sun again without protection.”

Marketing 101

The strategy for sunscreen-related products plays a massive role in sales globally. Partnering with global superstars like Sabrina Carpenter, for example, worked in Supergoop’s favour. If you watch the “Expresso” music video, you’ll spot the product placement clearly. If Sabrina endorses it, Gen Z is buying it. It’s that simple.

2 dont forget your spf kelli clifton — IG Post for reference: @BusinessOfBeauty

Sonette believes that a simple change of keywords would make a large impact. “I would call it ‘daylight protection’ instead of sun protection,” she says.

“This will eliminate any misconceptions about when you should apply your sunscreen.”

“I would emphasise the importance of year-round protection,” says Dr Lapiner. “That means every day, 365 days of the year, whether you’re indoors or outdoors, throughout summer and winter. The only difference when it comes to sunscreen use between seasons is in the frequency of reapplication. I teach my patients to look at the UV index in terms of the risk of outdoor exposure (if the UV index is under 3, the risk is low).”

In conclusion

Allow me to introduce you to my Roman Empire – a post from Sarah Jossel, columnist and Beauty Director for The Sunday Times Style. She discusses Supergoop founder Holly Thaggard, starting off her speech with this powerful statement: “Imagine if you could rub a cream on your breasts to prevent breast cancer. We would do it in a heartbeat, wouldn’t we? Then why, when there’s a cream that can be rubbed all over our skin to prevent skin cancer, do we not apply SPF every single day?”

Enough said. Wear your sunscreen.

Kelli Clifton

kelli@kelliclifton.co.za | Website

Kelli’s no stranger to the beauty biz, with this being her thirteenth year in the industry. She’s got over 100 issues of FAIRLADY Magazine under her belt, where she worked her way up from Beauty Intern to Beauty Editor. She had two loves – beauty styling, along with beauty writing but the main reason for her putting pen to paper each issue was the community she built – full of fellow beauty enthusiasts, sharing everything from their favourite fragrances to their skincare woes. Since leaving FAIRLADY in 2018 to pursue her own business of beauty content creation, consulting, social media management and more, she’s had the honour of working with both local and international brands, creating successful, personalised workshops in the makeup, skincare and fragrance space. She currently manages the marketing of some of SA’s most loved beauty brands and freelances for glossy Modern Beauty, Edgars Beauty Hub and Benefits Magazine. And now, she gets to add Aesthetic Appointment to her proud list of accomplishments.