Can sunscreen cause acne?

One of the principal pillars of skincare that you see repeatedly is the use of sunscreen.  Many skincare experts ranging from dermatologists, estheticians and scientific studies done have reached the conclusion that sunscreen is essential for health of skin, protection and preventing sun damaged skin. But many people have raised the questions weather if the use of sunscreen can also cause acne.

There are a number of reasons for the development of acne and some being actually due to lack of vitamin D which can cause acne and sun is one of the biggest sources of vitamin D. According to some dermatologists, yes sunscreen can cause acne by clogging your pores. The pores on your skin are clogged due to certain chemicals that are in sunscreens such as fragrances, preservatives and emollients which may cause irritation which can lead to breakout and acne.

Furthermore, as with other skincare products particular types of sunscreens and their composition can lead to acne. For example, certain chemical sunscreen products can cause you to sweat more since they suck up heat of UV light and convert it to heat. This heat is let out by the body by a process and can cause you to sweat more and this can lead to acne.

Many ingredients in sunscreen products are great for absorbing moistures but they can also intensify acne. So, as you can see sunscreen creates a protective layer on your screen which can cause a blockage of sort. This blockage can cause the sweat to be confined and increase the production of sebum. When you have more sweat being trapped in your skin and increase in production of sebum your pores will be clogged and this can lead to acne.

As we have mentioned in previous articles the proper storage of skincare products  is very important. Then you may not be surprised to also find out if sunscreen is not stored properly this can also make the product more likely to cause acne. This is due to when skincare products are not stored properly this can lead to the breakdown of the chemicals and ingredients in sunscreen that can make the product more prone to cause acne.

Sunscreen is a product that we take with us to the beach on a hot sunny day swimming or we may leave it in a hot parked car. Skincare products should not be exposed to heat, when this happens, the heat will breakdown the ingredients of the product and make it not effective and lead to acne and breakout.

We hope this article has helped with questions you may have had about sunscreen and acne and provide some guidelines on how to prevent this happening.