Question: Can I wear makeup over sunscreen? Or will it destabilize it?
Answer:
You only have to worry about makeup destabilizing sunscreen if your sunscreen has avobenzone (without octocrylene) as one of its ingredients. It‘s best to not layer these kinds of sunscreens with anything containing titanium dioxide or zinc oxide, which is a common ingredient in makeup with SPF and most mineral makeups.
Avobenzone is often made less effective when in the presence of octinoxate, titanium dioxide, and zinc oxide. However, there is no evidence of how much the avobenzone is actually broken down when it comes into contact with these other ingredients.
Therefore, you can go ahead and wear mineral makeup or SPF makeup over an avobenzone-containing sunscreen, but it’s better to be safe and just not do it. However, if your avobenzone-containing sunscreen has stabilized avobenzone, you won’t have to worry as much about it destabilizing with these other ingredients.
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