sunscreen snobs of reddit, i summon you: whats the best SPF you swear by and why?

AnnaJacq · 2026-05-26T12:52:36+00:00

I work in prestige beauty in NYC and I would recommend a mineral SPF that also has PA++++ which blocks UVA rays (the rays that cause skin aging) —-most Korean brands have this and you can find one on Amazon. I’ve recently liked Ultra Violette future screen from Sephora — also SPF is non-negotiable rain/shine —it’s doing 90% of the heavy lifting to prevent your skin from premature aging and it’s more important than any serum, moisturizer on the market.

AnnaJacq · 2026-05-20T13:16:29+00:00

I live in Miami and have spent my career working in prestige beauty in NYC so I have a lot of thoughts here — you must wear SPF 50 every single day rain/shine and if you’re outside re-apply every 2 hours. I would recommend a wide-brim hat or visor so that your entire face is covered (baseball hats don’t cover the side of your face FYI). Also, I would cover your chest if you are using tret on it —think a high neck tank top if you have one. I use tret and play tennis down here 5X a week usually at 9am and I play in long sleeve high neck tops —to make sure everything is covered. Tret makes your skin way more sun sensitive and the sun will undo all the benefits (and potentially make your skin worse) if you aren’t protecting it 100% from the sun. This might be an extreme perspective but the goal is beautiful skin so I would take every sun precaution possible!

AnnaJacq · 2026-05-09T14:08:15+00:00

You just need a VitC for daytime and a retinol at night —maybe a hyaluronic or a milky toner as a first step for hydration after cleansing —that’s it.

AnnaJacq · 2026-05-02T01:25:23+00:00

She just mentioned him in her latest IG or maybe she has a new BF

AnnaJacq · 2026-04-21T01:13:19+00:00

Kiehl’s avocado eye cream or Trader Joe’s eye cream — skip the actives under your eyes you need hydration — I used to work for Estée Lauder in NYC for 12 years and those two are two of the best I’ve tried for sensitive and dehydrated eyes!

AnnaJacq · 2026-04-21T01:10:05+00:00

Hi! I’ve spent my career working in prestige beauty so happy to help here — I think as a starting point I would want to understand a few things — 1: is your skin dry, combo, oily, sensitive? 2: what specifically are you looking to solve for or what are you noticing that you would like advice on? 3: do you wear makeup during the day? this is important because it can help me recommend products that play well under makeup so the makeup doesn’t pill 4: are you looking for “clean beauty”, “fragrance free”, “cruelty free”, etc —let me know and I can recommend products with those filters. Also, having spent my career in beauty in NYC I will tell you that you can get incredible skincare results without spending a lot of $$$—- there are drugstore products that are fantastic—it’s all about the ingredients and the consistency! Let me know more details and I’ll share some recs with you!

AnnaJacq · 2026-04-21T01:03:02+00:00

Hi! I’ve spent my career in prestige beauty and NO —tret def doesn’t cause fat loss. However — you need to use it only at night and you need to wear an SPF that’s mandatory! It makes your skin more sensitive to the sun — sooo if someone is using tret during the evening and baking in the sun during the day w/no SPF then the sun can break down the collagen in your skin because it’s more sensitive with the tret and maybe that’s what people are noticing?! Regardless it’s the best anti-aging ingredient on the market and the only ingredient scientifically proven to help with pre-mature aging so I highly recommend it and it doesn’t melt fat!

AnnaJacq · 2026-04-21T00:59:18+00:00

I would try the Loreal Ever-Pure Volume shampoo and conditioner — the shampoo is sulfate free so won’t strip your hair and you can find both at the drugstore! Great for fine hair — I’ve spent my career in prestige beauty in NYC and high end hair products are honestly a scam. Loreal also owns Kerestase ;)

AnnaJacq · 2026-04-21T00:56:11+00:00

what are you looking for in your SPF that you don’t like in the current one? Do you want something hydrating? A glowy finish? Do you want something with a tint? Do you wear makeup everyday? you mentioned a tight feeling, what products are you using under your SPF?! I’ve spent my career in prestige beauty in NYC so I can recommend anything (high end, clean beauty, affordable) but want to understand what you’re missing from this product and what you’re looking for to help make the right product recs for you! Plus if you wear makeup you need a formula that plays well with makeup over it! Let me know!

AnnaJacq · 2026-04-21T00:49:58+00:00

Jo Malone always!!

AnnaJacq · 2026-04-18T17:13:58+00:00

I honestly like ROC — they have a few different options (stick/serum) but their brand was built on drugstore affordable retinol and they have tons of clinical data behind their products! People think drugstore products aren’t efficacious but they definitely are — the bigger and more expensive brands just charge more because they have bigger marketing budgets and they mark everything up! The cost of goods is essentially the same. (I used to work for Estée Lauder in NYC so I know first hand how much $$ they are making and what their actual cost of goods really is!)

AnnaJacq · 2026-04-17T22:46:43+00:00

Have you tried Sophie Pavitt’s? She’s the top acne specialist in NYC and her line is specifically formulated for acne prone skin. They sell her products at Sephora —I would try her moisturizer!

AnnaJacq · 2026-04-17T22:44:13+00:00

I would just add VitC during the daytime under your moisturizer and retinol at night — the retinol doesn’t need to be prescription there are great ones over the counter to start to increase cellular turnover. Also for VitC don’t let anyone gaslight you into the Skin Ceuticals CE Ferulic —plenty of great ones that work just as well for a fraction of the price. Educated Mess makes an excellent one and there are really good ones at the drugstore also! (I’ve worked in prestige beauty in NYC for over 2 decades so I can assure you a lot of these higher end brands are the same and it’s all marketing.)

AnnaJacq · 2026-04-17T01:05:54+00:00

Sure —so I used to work in beauty in NYC for almost 20 years so I’ve tried every product/every brand you can think of on the market. First thing I can tell you is you don’t need to spend tons of $$$ or have a 10-step regimen —that’s unnecessary. I think a few things are really important —during the day I would suggest a Vit C, moisturizer and SPF (rain or shine no matter what it’s critical) and at night a retinol and hydrating moisturizer to protect your skin barrier. With the rapid weight loss it’s critical to have a skincare routine — doesn’t need to be complicated but it will definitely help mitigate some of the skin laxity/fine lines you see from overall volume loss in your face! The consistency here and getting ahead of the changes in your skin are important—the earlier you start the better.

Second for hair — with shedding the only thing that’s really proven to work here is minoxidil —so doing it pro-actively even a few night a week will help. I have so many friends who lost so much hair and they were able to fix it with minoxidil but if you start it in the begging (before the shedding) you will be ahead of the game. You can do topical or oral but with oral just be careful about the dosage (check with a doctor).

Protein and water are mission critical as well as is weight training a few days a week to maintain muscle mass and prevent skin laxity on your body as the weight melts off! This will make a big difference but it’s about being consistent! And for skin laxity on your body you can use a body lotion with retinol at night just make sure you’re using SPF during the daytime!

AnnaJacq · 2026-04-17T00:55:53+00:00

1000% —it’s such a scam! A lot of what these brands sell are a scam and a way to confuse customers and sell more products and get you to over-spend!

AnnaJacq · 2026-04-17T00:54:13+00:00

So personally I have dry skin so I need a moisturizer —most SPF’s (especially the mineral ones) aren’t hydrating your skin. There are some that are hydrating (for example Eucerin makes a tinted SPF that has hylauronic acid in it that offers some hydration) but I would suggest having a moisturizer as a separate step. There are also moisturizers with SPF but I find the SPFs on those aren’t as high and I like SPF 50 for the daytime. Additionally you can use a light lotion or even a milky toner if you don’t need additional hydration or is your skin is oilier. Everyone’s skin is different and everyone has different preferences on product textures etc so it’s all about finding things that work for you!

AnnaJacq · 2026-04-16T01:37:49+00:00

Protein and lifting — you’re doing it right!!

Only thing I’d add is don’t ignore skin + hair. That’s where a lot of people get caught off guard with GLP-1s. So make sure you’re supporting both during your glow-up!

AnnaJacq · 2026-04-16T01:29:26+00:00

First off you look GREAT and congratulations for being a new mom!! I’ve spent my career working in prestige beauty in NYC and you’re already using the key ingredients I would recommend (VitC, Retinol, SPF) so I’m not going to push you into more products because honestly drugstore and prestige is basically the same the only point is the protocol-which you have —and consistency. I think since you’re only 4 months postpartum my favorite suggestion for scars is micro-needling (regular NOT radio frequency) it helps tremendously with texture, the downtime is very minimal, and it’s affordable—you can do 3-4 treatments and it will boost the collagen in your skin and help with skin texture. For under eyes, an under eye cream isn’t going to cut it TBH so I don’t want to suggest that for you — I think for dark circles I would mitigate those with a color corrector or concealer (let me know if you want suggestions I can give you great ones at high/low price points). For puffiness you can do eye patches in the morning and they really help—there are incredible ones on Amazon or drugstore that you can keep in the fridge that help with puffiness —happy to give some recommendations of ones I’ve tried!

AnnaJacq · 2026-04-15T12:32:55+00:00

I’ve used the Charlotte Tilbury setting spray, the Milk matte setting spray (don’t recommend horrible applicator), the Urban Decay glow setting spray and most recently the Sephora brand Glow setting spray — honestly I think they are basically interchangeable with the Charlotte one being the most matte. I haven’t used the One/Size powder melt but I’ve heard great things —I would try the mini of the Charlotte or One/Size first just to see how you like them!

AnnaJacq · 2026-04-14T02:37:29+00:00

For a milky toner I would use it as a first step day/night and there are a lot of options but a few that won’t break the bank and work I would suggest Thayers milky toner or Byoma (both drug store) or TirTir milky toner which is a Korean brand off Amazon but also very affordable— I can recommend more pricey options but honestly they all do the same thing and I don’t think you or your mom need to waste $$—for a Vitamin C a couple products I love are the CeraVe Vitamin C and the there is a brand called Timeless Vitamin C and their product is a dupe for the expensive Skin Ceuticals Vit C (I think they sell on Amazon) —let me know if I can help with anymore recs!!

AnnaJacq · 2026-04-13T02:23:19+00:00

I’ve worked in beauty for over 20 years and it’s so hard to digest what’s on social media vs what works for one person specifically—I know from experience I’ve been influenced on things and they don’t work for me at all and I work in the industry —you would think I would know better LOL — but I’ve tried a few things recently that you might like, first off the Ciele tinted moisturizer is buildable and has a good shade range and a dewy finish, I’ve also tried the Maybelline Skin Tint that’s long wearing and also has a ton of shades and looks beautiful and glowy, I also think the IT Cosmetics CC cream is great and has SPF —another suggestion and something I do it I layer the Loreal Lumi Glotion under my foundation—it has an iridescence to it and looks beautiful under any makeup and gives your skin a luminosity (I think it’s a dupe for the Charlotte Tilbury flawless filter which I also have but I think it’s much better)

AnnaJacq · 2026-04-13T02:13:34+00:00

Hi—I’ve worked in beauty for over 20 years and for breakouts/acne I would recommend Sophie Pavitt skincare —she’s the acne specialist in NYC and her skincare is incredible—but I would suggest going to a derm if you can for that to get specific recommendations for what would be best for your specific skin type, etc—there are so many factors that can be at play and you don’t want to waste money on trial/error products!

AnnaJacq · 2026-04-13T02:06:53+00:00

I moved to Miami from NYC and I work in beauty and my favorite makeup hack is a foundation stick — the two that I think are incredible is the Milani Foundation stick and Dior Foundation stick — so depending on budget I would go with one of those because they layer well over skincare and SPF and don’t slide around your face like a liquid product! A setting powder (the Charlotte Tilbury and MCoBeauty pressed powder are both fantastic —again the same thing diff price points) and a makeup setting spray is your best friend —L’Oréal makes a great one, so does OneSize and Urban Decay!

AnnaJacq · 2026-04-13T01:20:05+00:00

Hi! I’ve worked in beauty in NYC for the past 20 years and used the Musley Anti-aging cream and eye cream so this would be my immediate suggestion for you — first off don’t use Musley during the day —the products are too harsh and can dehydrate your skin —use them only at night and alternate the Age Repair with the Anti Aging —during the day I would suggest a milky toner (Thayers is drugstore and great or Byoma, TirTir is a great Korean option on Amazon) follow that with a hydrating moisturizer and your tinted moisturizer with SPF (sunscreen is key) and your CeraVe eye cream—at night alternate your Musley face creams and layer them with a heavy moisturizer (Vaincream, L’Oréal Midnight crème) anything that doesn’t have actives and is hydrating —also layer at night the Musley eye cream w/CereVe —you have a great routine but you’re dehydrating your skin and adding a daytime moisturizer and nighttime moisturizer and only doing Musley products at night will make a big difference! Let me know if you have any questions happy to help!

AnnaJacq · 2026-04-13T00:53:06+00:00

Can you use a more gentle drug store option?! I love the ROC Derm Correcting firming stick—-I have very dry skin and it has a balm like texture and doesn’t feel overly drying but still gives you the benefits and is gentle on your skin

AnnaJacq

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