After years of working out in the summer sun, I’ve become a connoisseur of sunscreens. I’ll wear this stick for my face, that cream on my hands for shorter runs, this spray for long trail runs—and that’s aside from slipping on a sun shirt to provide my primary upper-body protection. The exact formulation of each sunscreen matters, so let me tell you what to look for in order to be a discerning customer.
Before we get into it, I want to make it clear that pretty much any sunscreen is better than no sunscreen, so don’t feel like you need to delay your next workout until you have sourced the perfect product. (And no, there are no health concerns about sunscreen that outweigh the very well-documented risks of getting too much sun exposure. Lifehacker’s Stephen Johnson has an explainer on that here.)
Pick a texture you don’t hate
The best sunscreen is the one you will wear. When I consider my sunscreen options, their effectiveness and sweatproof-ness are only part of the picture. If you find the texture of a certain sunscreen gross, and find excuses not to use it, then it’s not protecting you at all.
Before I head out for a run, I use a mineral sunscreen stick on my face. My personal rule is that this is the only sunscreen I’ll wear on my forehead. That’s because I’ve had a sweat-sunscreen mixture slide into my eyes too many times, and that stuff stings. (Some people’s eyes are sensitive to certain chemical sunscreen ingredients, and I suspect I’m one of those people.) Whether it’s the ingredients or the texture, I tend to have a better time when I a mineral sunscreen on my face—I like the pocket-sized stick from Blue Lizard.
When it comes to cream sunscreens, you have lots of different texture options. Trader Joe’s sells a silicone-based sunscreen that a lot of people like; it’s allegedly a dupe of a brand called Supergoop. I prefer the feel of Neutrogena’s Ultra Sheer Dry-Touch sunscreens, and they come in water-resistant and high-SPF varieties.
Everything I’ve noted thus far is on the pricier side for a sunscreen (although the TJ’s one is cheaper in person than in the online link). I stretch my dollars by only using the fancy sunscreens on the places I notice the texture most, like my face and hands. I truly do not care what’s on my legs when I go for a run, so I’ll use whatever spray or cream I got in a family bargain pack. Which, yes, may mean I’m applying three different sunscreens as I get ready for my run. You don’t have to be like me. But you could be, if you wanted.
Look for “40 minutes” or “80 minutes” on the label
Technically, no sunscreen is “sweatproof” since anything will wear off eventually with enough exposure to moisture. (In the same vein, the FDA does not allow sunscreens to advertise themselves as “waterproof” or to call themselves “sunblock.”) But water-resistant and thus sweat-resistant sunscreens do exist, and a glance at the label can help you tell the difference.
Sunscreens that can stand up to sweating or swimming will be labeled “water resistant,” and you’ll see those words on the front of the package. Most sunscreens with “sport” in the name are water resistant, but make sure to look for the fine print.
According to the FDA’s labeling guidelines, a sunscreen that calls itself water resistant must also indicate whether it has passed a 40-minute or 80-minute test. For the sunscreens that stand up best to sweat, look for the words “water resistant (80 minutes).”
Make sure it’ll last as long as you need (and always reapply)
If you’re about to head out for a few hours, you can’t just slather on sunscreen and then forget about it. Add up the amount of time you expect to be out, and then compare it to what your sunscreen says it can do.
What do you think so far?
All sunscreens should be reapplied after two hours, even if you haven’t been sweating. During that time you’ve probably touched your face, your sleeves have rubbed against your arms, and so on. There’s no guarantee you have enough sunscreen left to protect yourself, so go ahead and reapply to be safe; and if you towel off at any point, make sure to reapply afterward.
If you’re sweating (or swimming, or otherwise exposed to water), pay attention to that water resistance rating. If you’re heading out for a 90-minute run, wearing 80-minute sunscreen won’t quite get you to the finish line. Chances are, you’ll be stopping for water or snacks at some point, so pack sunscreen and reapply when you get a minute. You can even get little sunscreen packets to make this more convenient.
So consider this when picking out your sunscreen. What’s going to be convenient to bring along with you, and not too much of a bear to reapply? I prefer sprays for this reason, even if my initial application at home was a cream or a stick. Spray it on, check my reflection in my car window to see if my skin looks uniformly shiny, and then rub it in if possible.
Look for a high SPF and broad spectrum protection
It used to be a popular fun fact that high SPF sunscreens only provide a tiny bit more protection than lower SPF sunscreens. And technically, mathematically, that is somewhat true. But in real world use, high SPF is absolutely worth using. The higher the SPF, the better insurance you have against late or sloppy re-application. There’s a great study on this where skiiers applied SPF 50 on one side of their face and SPF 100 on the other, without knowing which bottle was which. The SPF 50 side was more likely to end up sunburned, even though the skiiers were reapplying throughout the day.
An SPF of 30 should be your minimum, but higher is better, within reason. (Price and texture will also be a factor, of course—but go for the higher number when other factors are equal.) Also look for the words “broad spectrum” to indicate that it blocks UVA rays in addition to UVB.