There are two types of morning beauty routines: The ones worthy of a short documentary, with multi-layered steps and a designated face serum, cream, or tincture for each, and the ones condensed into what’s lovingly called a “five minute face.” Scanning Sephora or Ulta shelves is a dream for the multitaskers in the second group—especially if they want a shortcut to protection from the sun's skin-damaging UVA and UVB rays, without actually having to slather on sunscreen each day during the summer.
People in both categories—or some middle ground between the two—are likely overlooking sunscreen in their daily routine. Studies estimate that as many as a quarter of American women "never" wear sunscreen. In some cases, it might be because their makeup seemingly gives them permission not to. Everyone from clean beauty upstarts (like Saie or Ilia) to celebrity-fronted ventures (like Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty or Rihanna's Fenty) to top shelf classics (like Nars, Laura Mercier, or Estée Lauder) carries SPF-enhanced makeup that comes off like a sunscreen replacement. Several levels up from the two-in-one shampoo-body washes in showers across America, their veritable mountain of SPF-rated foundations, concealers, and even eyeshadows claim to let you have a flawless complexion and stay sunburn-free while you're at it.
