Are you protecting your lips? Lips need sun protection too. Keep those lip lines away with a lip sunscreen.
This one is by Tizo, a brand known for its highly protective sunscreens.
It’s hard to find mineral (physical) lip sunscreens. I love how this one is 5% Zinc Oxide, 4% Titanium Dioxide.
The Zinc and TD are better at blocking the ‘aging’ UVA rays than chemical sunscreen ingredients.
The company that makes Tizo, Fallien Cosmeceuticals, also makes the drugstore brand CoTz, which you can find on various drugstore websites in the U.S. Tizo is sold through spas.
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Thank you thank you thank you for this tip, Rita! I am always on the search for mineral sunscreens and it’s so hard to find ones that are cosmetically elegant (my choice for the face is MD Solar Sciences Tinted – it’s pretty good, but not perfect) but finding lip balms is even more difficult.
Do you know of any face masks to wear while driving? I wear gloves and a scarf over my chest but really would love something for the face.
Thanks again for your great, thorough and detailed articles.
There’s a type of sun visor with a hanging drape around the visor rim that can be covered over the face. It looks like a wrap. I have seen this from Australian sunwear companies. Unfortunately, I don’t have time to find an example of this online for you. But if you check back in 1 week, I will upload an image of one that I have.
Also, have you seen the nose/mouth masks that people in Asia wear when riding motorcycles? That will partially cover the lower face, but I find it very hard to breathe in them! You can also find Asian nose/mouth masks with drapes. Here’s an example from my Instagram account .
Thanks, Rita! I’ll definitely check back in a week, and in the meantime I’ll also do my own search for sun visors and will also look on your Instagram account.
BTW – I picked up the Liptect lip balm Friday from a local dermatologist. I didn’t realize that it was tinted – it makes my lips look somewhat pale, but not white – definitely bearable/not bad at all.
Both times I put it on – just applied it now again – it feels a bit like it’s pulling/drying the lips, but I can’t say for sure because I haven’t worn it enough. Do you think it’s OK to put a moisturizing layer underneath, like Vaseline, or Aquaphor. And what about a lip gloss or lip color on top, for times when I may want to have some color on the lips? Just wondering if a layer underneath or on top of the balm could interfere with its sun protection factor.
Ah, I can see why Liptect may be drying. Mineral sunscreens can have that effect.
Sure, you put something else underneath Liptect for extra moisture. Vaseline or Aquaphor is fine. It won’t interfere with the sunscreen ingredients, because both are mineral actives that act by reflecting and scattering rays. I would wait before you apply the Liptect so that you don’t under-apply through slippage.
You can also apply a gloss over it too. It reduces the sun protection, but it’s still better than nothing if you want to wear color.
Thanks Rita. I never thought about waiting for application after applying Aquaphor/Vaseline. And I like knowing I may be diluting the sun protection if I wear a gloss over it, will make me pickier about choosing when I feel I need to have color.
BTW – I ordered a few items. My intention is to wear them while driving, but I don’t know that I’ll have the courage to wear any of them. Even wearing a neck scarf/wrap prompts questions like “are you cold?” :/ even though it’s a neutral color and doesn’t look heavy at all. So we’ll see.
http://www.amazon.com/Yake-nu-protection-neck-560Black-Standard/dp/B00FQAKMLQ?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00
http://www.amazon.com/Andux-Uv-blocking-Protection-Sports-KZ-01/dp/B00EKZXC1A?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00
http://sunprotection.com.au/4-ways-wear-adapt-cap/
(Chuckling). Gina, I know exactly how you feel. It does take some nerve to wear one of these face/neck drapes 🙂 You have found some nice ones though!
I found my old sun visor with a neck drape. Below are 2 pics of it. I bought this many years ago. The brand is Le Hood, made in Australia. To be honest, I didn’t get much wear out of this. It covered up too much of my face and made me look “suspicious” according to some friends. I decided that I didn’t want to be stared at by other cars or pulled over 🙂 I would, however, wear this if I were traveling through a hot and dusty desert.
https://justaboutskin.com/portfolio-items/le-hood-sun-visor-neck-drape-front-view/
https://justaboutskin.com/portfolio-items/le-hood-sun-visor-neck-drape-side-view/
Hi again 🙂 Thank you so much for the links to the products you had bought.
I got the ones I had mentioned in my post above – would it be helpful/interesting to you if I sent you some pictures of them? (in case you’d ever want to order them for yourself, or whatever). If it would be let me know and I’ll send you some pictures. 🙂
What I notice about the 2 face “masks” I got from Amazon is that when held to the light they seem too see through to me so I am really doubtful about their UPF 50+ rating (especially when I compare them to the scarf I got from Sundriven). But to tell you the truth I don’t know that I trust completely *any* UPF ratings because most don’t mention which lab certifies them.
As far as wearing the masks…well…I did try one day on my way to a workout and I felt really self conscious. For some reason it is easier / less embarrassing to pull off the Sundriven scarf over my face (and I do this often). Although I’m sure to onlookers it looks just as ridiculous. :/
Rita – let’s team up and create a face mask we would actually be OK to use. We need something! Every time I’m in the car I think to myself “I have everything protected except the ONE place that matters most – my face.” (of course the sunscreen is on, but you know what I mean.)
Anyway – I thought this info might be interesting to you. Hope you’re well.
Gina
Above it should read
For some reason it is easier / less embarrassing to pull up the Sundriven scarf over my face (and I do this often)
(up instead of off)
Hi Gina, you are brave to wear the masks. Kudos to you 🙂 You are right – better masks are needed! (chuckling) If it’s any consolation to you, exposing your face to some sun is good. Your skin needs some sun for Vitamin D production, which is vital for many reactions in the body (including skin). There’s always a tricky tradeoff with protecting skin but still enabling it to function optimally. As an alternative to a face mask, what about a sun umbrella or a large brimmed hat? If you have a car, have you considered having the windows tinted? That will help.
Hi Rita 🙂 Oh, yes, my windows are tinted. And on my next car, I will have my windshield tinted for sure. I do wear a baseball cap with a large brim often, even in the car. So I’m sure I’m doing a lot of the right things to protect myself…but I am always still looking for better. And yes, all that protection does have a “cost.” My Vitamin D levels came up extremely low in my yearly physical (so thanks for mentioning this, it reminds me I need to pick up some D3 vitamins since I’ve slacked off taking them. I know this is important and needs to be just as important as taking care of my skin.)