Beauty Bible Beauty Clinic

Welcome to our new weekly column on the YOU magazine website, www.you.co.uk  Below you will find the current question and our advice, with a list of where to source the products mentioned.  To look at past columns, click here. And for lots more solutions to your beauty dilemmas, visit Q&A, just click here.

August 15th, 2009: Sunscreens

Q Which sunscreens would you recommend for a 14-year-old boy with severe teenage acne? We will be travelling on holiday to Turkey in August (high factor required), and my son will be sailing again in the UK this summer - again, high factor needed.

A First of all you’ve got to rule out anything which looks girly, so Banana Boat Sport UVA & UVB Sunscreen Lotion SPF30, £9.99 for 177 ml (in Superdrug stores), is a good place to start.  It’s non-greasy, sweat-resistant, water-resistant - so it’s ideal for spot sufferers.  What’s more, most teens - male and female - can be persuaded to use sunscreen if it has the word ‘sport’ in the name, because as well as being designed with that in mind, there’s an air of ‘cool’ about sports products.  This is a product that can be used on faces, as well as bodies.  Crucially. it’s ‘non-comedogenic’ (which translates as:  it won’t block pores).

As most teenagers who suffer from spots (male and female) tend to get them on the back and shoulders, too, non-oily body protection is also a must.  In addition to the Banana Boat Sport product, Nivea SUN Light Feeling Sun Lotion, £13.49 for 200 ml has an ultra-light texture (you can barely feel it on the skin), is instantly absorbed and non-greasy, and doesn’t leave a white residue.  (In our experience, teens are reluctant to use any sunscreen which looks obvious!)  The good news is that this featherweight product packs an SPF punch in factors 30 and 50, offering excellent protection. 

One last suggestion:  although it’s not widely available in the UK, there’s a terrific product from America called Neutrogena Sunblock Ultra-Sheer Dry-Touch SPF55;  perhaps ask a friend to bring some for you from the States, or try an on-line store called The American Shoppe which brings this in from the States, and sells it for £14.99 for 88 ml?  It’s at www.theamericanshoppe.mybisi.com (or better still, just click on the product name and you’ll find it).

The rule is:  anyone who is using acne lotion or a topical medication should apply it to clean skin first, and then apply sunscreen 30 minutes before heading out into the sun.  And as soon as you come inside, wash the sunscreen off, and reapply the topical treatment. 

We . . .

Hypnôse Senses, from £29 for 30 ml eau de parfum.  We’ll be frank:  it’s been a while since Lancôme came up with a cracker of a fragrance, but this makes up for lost time:  a wonderful, wearable floral ‘chypre’ fragrance, which kicks off with fresh notes of mandarin and pink peppercorns, has a rosepetal-and-honey heart - and soon becomes ultra-nuzzleable and subtly sexy on the skin, thanks to base notes of benzoin vanilla, tonka beans and lashings of patchouli.  Addictive.
 

Beauty Bible Beauty Clinic - Archive

August 9th, 2009 - Good Skin Care
August 2nd, 2009 - Lash Conditioners
July 26th, 2009 - Spa Treatments
July 19th, 2009 - Organic Tinted Moisturiser
July 12th, 2009 - Hair Protection
July 5th, 2009 - Cellulite
June 28th, 2009 - Sexy Summer Scents
June 21st, 2009 - Eyeliner Tricks
June 14th, 2009 - Natural Suncare
June 7th, 2009 - Anti Ageing Skin Care
May 31st, 2009 - Natural Nail Polishes
May 24th, 2009 - Body Polishing
May 17th, 2009 - Rosacea
May 10th, 2009 - Manky Feet
May 3rd, 2009 - Makeup Makeover
April 26th, 2009 - Facial Hair Removal
April 19th, 2009 - Teen Skin
April 12th, 2009 - Swimmers Hair
April 5th, 2009 - Make-up For Damaged Skin
March 29th, 2009 - Are Sunbeds Safe?
March 22nd, 2009 - Weak, Flaking Nails
March 15th, 2009 - Puffy Eyes
March 8th, 2009 - Camouflaging Red Cheeks
March 1st, 2009 - Hair Colouring in Pregnancy
February 22nd, 2009 - Thinning Eyebrows
February 15th, 2009 - Acne