Expert Skin-care Tips: Dermatologist Advice on How to Care for Your Skin Before Summer Arrives by Dr. Elizabeth Mullans, Board-Certified Dermatologist

Sunblock is very important for the skin and you should never skip it, even while wearing a face mask. If concerned about using heavy sunscreen on the face, try using a light moisturizer with hyaluronic acid before mask use to protect the skin’s barrier, and follow up with sunscreen with a SPF of 30 or higher before heading outside. 

You should wear SPF indoors if you're sitting near windows or in front of a computer screen, as you're exposing yourself to potentially skin-damaging light. It is easy to believe that once we are indoors that we protected from the sun. Not all glass is created equally. It is still important to apply daily SPF 30 or higher, because harmful UVA rays can penetrate windows.

There are two different types of UV rays:

• Ultraviolet A (UVA) is associated with skin aging.
• Ultraviolet B (UVB) is associated with skin burning.

Look for a sunscreen that is good for all skin types, non-greasy and protects from both UVA and UVB rays of the sun. For oily skin, mainly in younger people, they cannot take too much product on their skin without breaking out so everything in skincare and makeup should be oil free. A great tinted moisturizer with an SPF 30 is the Neutrogena radiant tinted moisturizer. Cetaphil's Daily Facial Moisturizer SPF 35- very affordable and the best type of sunscreen for combination skin. There is also different degrees of heaviness, something lighter like a serum, would be for your face, while a lotion cream or oil would be for the body.

In my clinic lately, I am seeing skin peeling on patients from not wearing SPF on their tattoos. Not using sunscreen causes tattoos to fade when they’re exposed to sunlight. I recommends to use a sunscreen of at least 30 SPF, like Mad Rabbit Defend, specifically designed for tattoos.

There are a few ways that to ensure skin protection:

• Sunblock in makeup may not be strong enough for your skin type. It may only be SPF 15 in your makeup and if you have fair skin, you will need a higher SPF like a 40 and 50.

• The skin can become irritated from using too many irritating agents or too many products that are not compatible. This ends up disrupting and breaking down the protective barrier of the skin from the outside in. Sometimes it can be from mechanical irritation -- exfoliating the skin with harsh scrubs that abrade the skin from the outside in. I recommend my patients who have sensitive skin or suffer with irritation to always use fragrance-free sensitive skin detergents to protect their skin, such as Arm & Hammer Sensitive Skin Detergent. Sometimes the problem starts as inflammation, and people try to calm it down with the wrong products that then actually irritate the skin from the outside in.

• Additionally, I recommend taking a daily multivitamin, like the vitafusion Gorgeous Hair Skin and Nails gummy, which includes both vitamin e and biotin, and is easy to take.

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