The 1 Place You Should Apply Sunscreen Before Anywhere Else

Good intentions aren’t enough, dermatologists say — you have to apply it the right way, too.

Do you start at your feet and move up? Give it all a quick spray and move on? If you’ve fallen into a routine of using sunscreen each day, you may be surprised to hear that there’s a preferred method for how it should be applied.

Are you doing it the right way? Here’s what the experts say.

Top-down is the preferred method.

Face-first is always the way to go, experts said. “I recommend starting at the face and then working your way down the body to your feet, so that you don’t wind up with bacteria from your body on your face,” said dermatologist Dr. Corey L. Hartman.

Dermatologist Dr. Teresa Song agreed with this approach, and she explained why it’s a good idea. “Generally, skin care products used on the body are more occlusive, which means they can use heavy, greasy ingredients that create a physical barrier for the skin,” she said. “That heavier body skin care should be separated from products intended for face and neck, since they could potentially cause breakouts on the face.”