Beware: The Sun Is a Murderer and Will Steal Your Beauty

I love makeup, but I don't usually wear it day to day. If I have to run a quick errand or something I might dab on some concealer, but I have the benefit of living in LA, where it's perfectly acceptable to wear huge sunglasses everywhere, including indoors, and refuse to take them off. The one thing I never skip though, is sunscreen. Telling me you don't use sunscreen every day is setting yourself up for one of my longer rants. GUYS. You gotta. The sun's mission is to kill you, and if it can't kill you, it's going to settle for prematurely aging you. I don't care if you live in a place where it's not sunny, I don't care if it's a cloudy day, I don't care if you're just going out for an hour. UV rays can get through clouds, and sun exposure adds up! Sun protection comes from physical sunscreen or chemical. The downside to physical sunscreens is that they can feel thick and tacky, and that's not really something you want to put on your skin, particularly on your face before applying makeup. For reference, the most common physical sunscreen is zinc oxide, which is what camp counselor Ug wore on his nose on Salute Your Shorts. It won't necessarily make you wanna fart, but it's a lot of look. Which is why I was thrilled to find a facial sunscreen that doesn't have all the drawbacks of typical physical sunscreens.

Josie Maran Argan Daily Moisturizer SPF 47 is not just a facial sunscreen - it's a lovely moisturizer that has the benefit of having a high SPF built right in. In the warmer months I typically just wear a light liquid sunscreen on my face, but this winter I've needed to up my game and turned to a moisturizer/sunscreen combo. If you remember when I discovered Josie Maran's argan oil, it was in a set that came with a cleansing oil and moisturizer. I ended up relying heavily on that little mini moisturizer this fall and winter and when it ran out I booked it to Sephora and got a full size bottle. I actually read a little about the product before purchasing it (once I got to the store I did a bit of comparison shopping) and the reason this moisturizer felt so different despite being a physical sunscreen is that it uses less zinc and titanium oxide and instead substitutes some antioxidants in their place. The zinc oxide and titanium oxide are still in there, providing their super sun stopping powers, but because there isn't as much, you don't get that tacky, heavy feeling and that white cast that classically comes from physical sunscreens. You know, the Counselor Ug look. Somehow through supermodel prowess and science these antioxidants are how our girl Josie was able to use less of the old standby physical sunscreens but still get her SPF up to 47.

In addition to this moisturizer absorbing into the skin almost immediately, feeling weightless, and providing physical sun protection, there's also added argan oil, which I, and my skin, are completely devoted to. Plus almost everything in the Josie Maran skincare line is fair trade, eco-friendly, cruelty free, organic, vegan, and free of parabens, sulfates, phthalates, and will make you feel like a gorgeous supermodel. I mean, seriously, doesn't that make you determined to wear sunscreen every day?!