Your Favorite Summer Lip Gloss Might Actually Be Ruining Your Lips.

 

When summer comes around, one of my pervasive thoughts is how to perfect my lip combo.  After all, summer is the time of year to showcase my shiniest of glosses, right? 

 Maybe not.  

Recently, I picked up a trending lip gloss everyone was raving about.  The texture was a little thicker than other glosses I owned which helped contribute to its staying power.  "Perfect," I thought, maybe this thicker texture might even add a little protective barrier against the harsh sun's rays.  Although it contained zero SPF, I just assumed that a layer of gloss would do something to help protect my lips from the sun...kinda like how clothing helps protect the skin (hence why we get tan lines).

Once I theorized that lip balms and glosses might offer a weak level of protection versus bare lips, I decided to fact-check myself just in case I was being delusional.

Thank God I took two minutes to search the internet for confirmation because what I discovered was shocking.  Instead of adding a small layer of protection, our shiny summer lip combo might attract the sun's UV rays even more.  Apparently, this has something to do with the sun being attracted to shiny, reflective surfaces.  A dermatologist theorized that gloss might even increase the amount of UV that penetrates through the lip. 

Your favorite lip gloss might actually be contributing to potential sun damage on your lips. 

Last year, I finally got serious about putting sun protection on my lips when I heard stories from those who wore SPF lip balm daily Over the course of time, they noticed their lips returning to a lighter, natural pink shade. This motivated me to wear SPF balms on bare lips but whenever I wore cosmetic lip products, I'd mindlessly opt out of applying SPF thinking that I would be covered by the glosses and lipsticks.  

Now that I've learned the truth, I will never skip sun protection on my lips again.  According to what I read online, it's recommended that we apply the SPF lip product first before doing your favorite lip combo.  So ideally, you'd hydrate your lips by applying a tiny dab of your favorite facial serum or moisturizer, then add sun protection once the moisturizing product has fully absorbed.  And, of course, we'll reapply our SPF balm or gloss throughout the day as needed. 

Or, better yet, get your hands on an SPF 50 lipgloss and call it a day.