Can I use body sunscreen on my face? Is it safe?

These days cosmetic companies are creating lots of different types of face sunscreens: for dry skin, for oily skin, for acne-prone, anti-aging, etc. This creates a lot of confusion and people are left thinking that they can only use a separated face sunscreen on their face. But is it really like that? Is that really true?

Well, if you have certain skin concerns like acne, atopic dermatitis, etc, and you need certain ingredients in your sunscreen to help keep things at bay, then of course go for it and get that face sunscreen that helps you with your skin concern.

If that’s not the case and you actually don’t have any especially demanding skin issues, you are just buying separated face sunscreens because you think that’s the only way it can be done, then, hold your wallet!

Did you know UV filters and ingredients that are used in body sunscreens are similar or often the same as the ones in most face sunscreens? So it’s perfectly safe for you to apply your body sunscreen to your face as well, and you can get 4 times more product by buying the body sunscreen and using it on your face (and that’s for the same price usually).

As a matter of fact, there are sunscreens that are even meant for face&body you just have to pay a little more attention when shopping for one. One example of such sunscreens is La Roche Posay Invisible Spray SPF 50 PA++++. This is my favorite face sunscreen, yup you read that right, I use it only as my face sunscreen. I buy it for 24$ and use it all year round on my face because it comes in the packaging of 200ml.

Here is a little price comparison, La Roche Posay Shaka Fluid SPF 50 PA++++ (face sunscreen) retails for 20$ and comes in the packaging of 50ml, and La Roche Posay Invisible Spray (face&body sunscreen) retails for 24$ and comes in the packaging of 200ml. They have the same UVA and UVB protection and they even have 5 matching UV filters (I know I compared them!). If you want to see the sensor characteristics of each, you can check out the video that I made on my channel comparing them. Link below.

SUNSCREEN ON A BUDGET: LRP Invisible Spray VS LRP Shaka Fluid Video

Now being the perfectionist that I am, I have to emphasize some cons to this “Sunscreen on a budget” hack.

CON NUMBER 1

Some body sunscreens have some comedogenic ingredients that won’t cause breakouts on your body but might cause them on your face (if you are prone to that). An example of that would be La Roche Posay Hydrating Lotion Body sunscreen. This one is only meant to be used on the body, and that is the reason why (comedogenic ingredients). So to avoid this, you can just look for sunscreens that are meant for the face and body(like the Invisible Spray), or you can risk it as I did! I bought La Roche Posay Hydrating Lotion Body sunscreen and I have been using it for months now without any problem (but I have to emphasize that I have dry skin and I am not prone to clogged pores). So if you want to know more about this sunscreen and its sensor characteristics to see if it will work out for you, I talked about it in this video, check it out!

THE TRUTH ABOUT LA ROCHE POSAY SUNSCREENS Video

CON NUMBER 2

Body sunscreen can contain UV filters that are irritating to the eye area. If you are like me and you have a sensitive eye area then I recommend that you get a separated eye sunscreen.

My fave “eye sunscreen” is La Roche Posay Shaka Fluid SPF 50 PA ++++. It’s meant for the face and eye area, it does not sting or irritate at all! La Roche Posay Shaka Fluid comes in the packaging of 50ml so if you buy it to use it on your face you will use it up in a couple of weeks (when applied properly, I will write more about that in another blog post), but if you use it as an eye cream it will last you throughout the whole year. It also has a PAO of 12 months (the period after opening is how long you can use the product after opening it for the first time), so that means you literally have 1 whole year to use it up before expires, which is super long because most eye creams have a PAO only 6 months.

Hopefully, by now I have convinced you to buy a body sunscreen to use on your face and stay protected from the sun all year round but not break the bank either!

If yes, comment below which body sunscreen will you get?! Thank you for reading!