Can I use face sunscreen on my lips?

Protect your pout from sunburns this summer.

By now, most of us are familiar with the importance of wearing sunscreen to protect against the sun’s harsh UV rays, which can cause skin damage and lead to cancer. As a reminder, for the best protection, sunscreen needs to be water-resistant, broad-spectrum and has an SPF of at least 30. And, of course, don’t forget to reapply every two hours. But, even if you diligently apply (and reapply) sunscreen to your face and body, you might be missing one of the most important spots to protect: your lips.

To learn more about applying SPF to your lips and sunburned lips, we spoke to board-certified dermatologist Dr. Susan Poelman, the co-director of Beacon Dermatology in Calgary, about why it’s important to wear SPF on your lips and what to do if you get sunburned lips.

(Related: The Best Lip Balms with SPF)

Can lips get sunburned?

Yes, you can get sunburned lips. Sunburned lips are just like a sunburn anywhere else on your body, says Poelman. The lips become chapped and can blister, they may peel and the area will be super red afterwards. “Sunburn essentially represents UV damage to the skin and the accumulation of those free oxygen radicals that can lead to skin cancer,” says Poelman. Aside from causing skin cancer, sunburns can also cause freckling, dyspigmentation, wrinkling and dry out your lips.

Wait, you can get skin cancer on your lips? What does that skin cancer look like?

You can most definitely get skin cancer on your lips. “The most significant risk from sunburned lips is of developing skin cancer,” says Poelman. Squamous cell carcinoma, a form of skin cancer, is most commonly found on lips and looks like a hard, white bump that can be tender.

One warning sign that should send you straight to your derm’s office is if you develop something called actinic keratosis (which is also sometimes called solar keratosis), which is like a pre-skin cancer. “It’s step one before squamous cell carcinoma,” says Poelman. Actinic keratosis looks like a whiteish scale on your lips that doesn’t go away with lip balm or prescription ointments.

Melanoma is the deadliest type of skin cancer. Though it’s rarer to get melanoma on your lips, it’s still possible especially if you forgo SPF to your lips. Typically, melanoma presents itself as a brownish, irregularly sized freckle and you should get it checked out by a medical professional once you notice it.

(Related: 6 Dermatologist-Approved Face Sunscreens to Wear Every Day)

Can sunburned lips turn into cold sores?

While a sunburn doesn’t necessarily turn into cold sores, cold sores can be triggered by getting a sunburn. “Anytime you have a compromised skin barrier and you introduce a virus, the virus can take hold more easily,” Poelman says. Basically, when your skin is damaged, the immune system that’s normally protecting against cold sore-causing viruses isn’t as active, making you more vulnerable to pesky (and often painful) spots.

How do you apply SPF to your lips?

You can apply your normal sunscreen right across your mouth, though there are some products out there that are specially formulated for your lips. Roll-on sunscreen sticks are an easy way to apply and reapply SPF on your lips— you can use it just like you would use lip balm. Like with coverage for the rest of your body, sunscreen for your lips should also have an SPF of at least 30 and you should be reapplying every two hours or more frequently if you’re sweating or swimming.

Lip balms with SPF are another easy way to protect your lips from the sun. According to Poelman, it’s important to make sure that your lip balm has a high enough SPF (SPF 30 or higher!) and to avoid fragranced products which can lead to irritation and promote sunburns.

(Related: 5 of Best Tinted Sunscreens, According to Dermatologists)

What’s the best treatment and home remedy for sunburned lips?

If you come home from a beach day with sunburned lips, Poelman recommends using a vitamin C serum “because it can take away those sunburned cells.”

Zinc oxide diaper cream is another one of Poelman’s sunburn relief hacks. “Zinc has wound healing properties and it’s soothing and creates a good barrier,” she says. If you’ve got an aloe vera plant kicking around at home, slicing up one of its leaves and applying the gel to the burned area can bring relief, as can cold compresses.

For really bad sunburns, Poelman recommends getting in touch with your dermatologist.

Next, protect your skin from the sun’s harsh rays with these hats.

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Just asking, because I… don’t really use a lipbalm with spf. Yet. Ahem.

Unsurprisingly, dermatologists agree that you should: lips are apparently the one area that most people don’t use sunscreen on. Consequently, lips are a common place for skin cancers (Prevention.com), and, on top of that, are susceptible to sun damage just as every other part of your body: in fact, even more so. The skin on your face is about five times as thick as the skin covering your lips. UV light damages collagen, which leads to wrinkly and thin lips. The thin skin on your lips is also very quick to be damaged by sunburn.

We’re all totally convinced that we need a balm/lip treatment with SPF right now, right? I mean, I am. But finding the right SPF to protect your lips is difficult, like the search for the right sunscreen for your face – but on steroids.

Problem 1: the right filter

Mineral or chemical? As always, mineral filters (Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide) will very likely leave a white cast, and white lips aren’t a cute look outside of Vogue editorials. They also will very likely dry out your lips. On top of that, mineral filters mostly rely on forming a thin film on your skin to protect you properly. Very likely, though, you’ll be talking, eating, drinking, kissing… and how will that film hold up?

Chemical filters though will very likely bring up the perennial question: are they safe?! Especially on your lips. You’ll very likely heard numbers like ‘women will ingest 7 pounds of lipsticks in their lifetime!11111’. (It’s all wrong, btw. The number is closer to 1,5kg in your whole life – read more here and here.) But nevertheless: you’ll very likely ingest some of the products you put on your lips. And while I’m perfectly fine with the regulatory body of the EU telling me that the sunscreen filters I use are safe to put on my face, well – what about actually EATING them?

Ingestion of sunscreen filters

Here’s what I learned after a few frantic days of googling and talking to my significant other who has a doctorate in chemistry.

The European Chemicals Agency implemented the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), ‘the strictest law to date regulating chemical substances’ in the world. It came into effect in 2007 and ‘addresses the production and use of chemical substances, and their potential impacts on both human health and the environment’ (here). Meaning: they test all chemicals you use daily, be it a sunscreen filter or dishwashing soap. They also test if substances are safe if ingested, no matter if they’re supposed to be ingested or not. So: yes, in all possibility the sunscreen filters you use were tested if harmful when ingested.

But do you actually ingest a lot of sunscreen filters?

Let’s look at one of the filters in the lipbalm I just bought, Uvinul+, which is a great filter for high UVA protection with high photostability. It can be used up to 10% in formulas worldwide except for the US and Canada. (Incidecoder). (My balm contains Uvinul A Plus, Avobenzone, Iscotrizinol, and Tinosorb S.)

What I’m trying to find out is how much you’ll ingest of this filter, and if that could be dangerous. (I won’t do this with every filter, because this is extremely difficult for me as I’m severely math-challenged.) Let’s start a little thought experiment.

What I don’t know is how much of Uvinul+ is actually in my lipbalm, because in the EU, different to the US, manufacturers don’t have to especially mention the amount of active ingredients in a cosmetic product. I have, though, Paula’s Choice’s sunscreen I use on my face, and know that there’s around 20% of active ingredients in the formula. There’re four filters, and totally unscientifically I’ll assume that there’re about 5% of Uvinul+ in my lipbalm.

Lipbalm with spf

One application of lipstick amounts to 0,008g as we’ve established in this post. Not all of those 0,008g (8 milligram) will actually end up in your stomach: some of it will end up on the rims of glasses, some ingredients will absorb and a layer will very likely just stay on your lips.

The data sheet for Uvinul states:

“Virtually nontoxic after a single ingestion. Virtually nontoxic after a single skin contact.  LD50 rat (oral): > 2,000 mg/kg”

That means that in rats they tested this on an amount of less or up to 2 milligrams per kilogram of body weight was non lethal. The effects on rats is comparable to human bodies for this purpose.

1,2 milligram of Uvinul will end up on my lips after one application. A person could ingest up to 140 milligrams (I’ll randomly assign a median weight of 70kg to that person) and not suffer any ill effects.

There’re variables in this example I can’t say anything about. Accumulative and long-term effects are some of them. But I’ve to admit that I feel rather assured by these numbers.

(And hey, did you expect to read something about European Union regulations in a post about lipbalm today?!)

Problem 2: application and re-application

Let’s go back to application issues. You’d apply a lip product with SPF exactly like one on your face: Apply it generously. Let it dry. THEN use your regular lipstick or gloss over it, like you would apply a foundation over sunscreen. (Which means carefully as not to damage the protective layer.) For re-application, do the whole thing again.

Problem 3: it smells nice… but is drying!

Not only do you want to avoid photo sensitising ingredients like citrus oils, but also lip plumping ingredients like menthol or camphor, as they may irritate and dry out your lips. You should look for a good mix of humectants and emollients in your balm, just like with any other moisturiser you use on your face.

Problem 4: It’ll go off after 12 months

Just like regular sunscreen, after being open for 12 months, you should chuck it. It’s likely that by then, the filters won’t work as well as they did when freshly opened. So maybe don’t buy the luxury option?

What about you? Do you use sunscreen products on your lips, or will you start now?

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