AisleDash

There are two types of harmful rays emitted by the sun, UVA and UVB, and you want to protect your skin from both of these rays for different reasons - UVA rays cause Aging while UVB rays cause Burning. UVA rays are the worst offenders: They cause serious damage to the deeper layers of the skin - and are the major cause of wrinkles, sun-spots and worse of all, skin cancer. Adding insult to injury, they do all this damage without even giving you a tan! (I feel obligated to repeat my stance on tanning - it's an absolute no-no if you're serious about beautiful skin.)

You probably know that you need a sunscreen with a Sun Protection Factor (SPF) of 15 or greater, which is helpful in preventing sunburn as it blocks UVB rays, but did you know that SPF does not measure protection against UVA rays? Don't be lulled into a false sense of security if your current sunblock has a high SPF!

The best UVA blocker is an ingredient called Mexoryl - coupled with Avobenzone it offers the widest protection from UVA rays. Available in Europe since 1993, it wasn't approved by the FDA until 2006 which forced me to stock up on Anthelios during European trips or to sneak some product samples at work. But now it's legally available in the US, and I'm no longer forced to illegally slather the good stuff. Here are my recommendations:

Luxe Products
Anthelios SX Daily Moisturizer with Sunscreen (3.4 oz for $29)
Biotherm White Detox UV - (1 oz for $42.50)

Bargain Products:
Ombrelle (4.8 oz for $14.95)

Previously:
Four skincare ingredients that actually work