Many of the mainstream skincare producers sell moisturisers with SPF in the product. At Nota Bene Skincare, we don’t do this and I’ll explain the very good reasons why we don’t.
Sunscreen is designed to sit on the surface of the skin acting as a defensive barrier between your face and the sun. It isn’t designed to penetrate the skin, like moisturiser because it needs to block out the UV rays that damage our skin.
This functionality of SPF is the opposite to how moisturiser works. The job of a high-quality moisturiser is to penetrate the skin and add moisture your skin is lacking. If SPF is already in the moisturiser, it will be diluted by the ingredients in the moisturiser therefore losing effectiveness. If you like a bit of science, for SPF to be effective, to achieve coverage, you need to use two milligrams of sunscreen per square centimetre of skin, this is quite a lot of product! Using that calculation in order for SPF to do its job, a high percent of ingredients would be the SPF leaving little room for the moisturising ingredients, therefore diminishing the benefit of the moisturiser. Our recommendation is apply a good quality SPF after you’ve applied your Nota Bene moisturiser and keep topping up the SPF during the day when exposed to UV rays. Even on cloudy days, you should be using SPF!
Love Nota Bene Skincare Team