How Effective is the SPF in your Make Up?

Recently, I popped into Kiehl’s to have a general look round but what I was really after was the dark spot corrector (you can read my glowing review here) they have and the store assistant launches this pitch at me, saying that the serum was practically useless if I didn’t wear the sunscreen she recommended with it. She did provide good reasoning behind it because scars and dark spots do become darker when exposed to the sun or more specifically UV rays as the tissue is less resistant than normal skin, so if I didn’t protect my skin from sun damage I wouldn’t be giving the serum a chance to work at it’s optimum. Whether for beauty reasons or health reasons we all know how beneficial sunscreen is.

She then disclosed to me that the SPF (sun protection factor) in my foundation and moisturiser is not effective unless I apply 7 to 10 layers of it. Which nobody does, ever. Up until that very moment I never questioned the effectiveness of SPF in my make up or skincare and when I’m looking for a foundation I always prefer to get one with sun protection because that’s a bonus right? But what she said has completely shattered the way I look at those products now and I’m disappointed that none of these products I bought declared how much I need to use to get the SPF stated. It just seems that SPF is only an added extra to boost it’s value and appeal of a product, I feel quite deceived, I mean they’re technically not breaking the rules but they aren’t exactly being honest either. I’m ever skeptical about beauty products’ claims anyway but I thought sun protection wouldn’t be something brands would be sly about.

After that bombshell she really pushed the factor 50 ‘Ultra Light Daily UV Defence’ sunscreen and she was really passionate about that specific product enough to give me a few samples to try as I felt she could sense my hesitance about the sunscreen, as I did question her whether factor 50 was too much and she went on to explain that even though it’s winter and the sun isn’t out they’re still UV rays being emitted and even indoors the sunlight (on the rare occasion there is) can go through windows and can damage your skin that way too. She even went as far to say that dermatologists always recommend a factor 50 sunscreen, which I took with a grain of salt to be honest.

So as soon as I got home I did the nerdy thing and googled fervently to finally get to the bottom of this sun protection dilemma, is it really necessary for me to wear a factor 50 sun screen daily? The short answer would be no, and here’s why. The Met Office has forecasted what the UV index is like for the next 5 days and it’s a great fat 0 (for where I live and I’m sure it’s more of less the same up and down the country) and a score of 0 means no exposure and according to their guide you can ‘safely stay outside’. So I have no worries about my dark spots getting darker, brill and let’s be real why should we waste using up products when they are not going to be actively protecting us?

Of course when the summer does roll around, it means we will have to wear an actual sunscreen underneath our make up for the full factor protection but until then I think I’m good with what I’m using now.

Let me know in the comments if you knew the truth about SPF in our make up and skincare products because it was definitely new news to me and what your thoughts are about that!

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4.