Quick tip: sunscreen stinging your eyes? Do this!

There’re a lot of things that annoy the heck out of me when wearing sunscreen. A white cast, greasy texture, or sunscreen making my eyes water?! No thanks. But especially the very thin skin around our eyes is in danger from the sun and should be protected. So here’re some tips to prevent stinging, burning or watering eyes when using sunscreen.

Quick tip 1: use mineral sunscreen

In literature, Avobenzone is named culprit number 1 for stinging, burning or watering eyes. But other chemical filters can cause that as well. If your sunscreen is fragranced, applying it close to the eye area can also trigger a reaction. A safe bet is mineral sunscreen: both titanium dioxide and zinc oxide are relatively eye-safe. I personally LOVE using Niod’s Survival 30 (review) around the eye area, because it works as a tinted primer of sorts. Also, both concealer and eyeshadow can be applied over it without any problems. Paula’s Choice’s Super Light Daily Wrinkle Defense SPF30 (all mineral, tinted) is similar.

Quick tip 2: use a stick sunscreen

While sunscreen sticks come with a variety of filters, their unique texture makes them unlikely to slide and slip. They’re much firmer than regular sunscreen, and made for spot application especially at areas of the face like cheekbones, nose, ears and lips where regular lotions and creams are difficult to apply. They’re mostly water/sweat resistant, which all makes them easier to use around the eye area. Especially when you’re sweaty, regular sunscreen really easily can move around on your face and end up or seep into your eyes. But a stick sunscreen will prevent that. (A lot of pharmacy brands make them: Vichy, Avene, La Roche-Posay and Cerave, for example.)

Quick tip 3: use a chapstick with SPF

This is a popular option with people at the beautyboard I’m a member of. The thinking behind that is that chapsticks with SPF generally have gentle formulas suitable for the sensitive skin on your lips. I personally would think that chapsticks are more emollient and thus, more prone to slide and slip, and I doubt that you can successfully apply makeup over that, but hey, every ship in a storm, right? Meaning, this is better than having no sun protection at all.

Quick tip 4: built a barrier

This is a hack to prevent your regular sunscreen from moving around your face. I’ve tried this successfully for quite some time, and my thought process is as follows: the problem with sunscreens I use is some kind of seeping/running into eyes over the course of the day. When I’m getting oilier through the day, or, especially during summer, start to sweat, any product will start to move around. And thus, seepage occurs, even if I didn’t apply regular sunscreen up to my eyeballs.

That doesn’t happen when I apply either primer or concealer. When applying something film-forming that clings to your skin (I mean, that’s a primer or concealer’s job description, isn’t it?!), seepage can’t occur, because you’ve somewhat blocked that area. (You can also ‘set’ your sunscreen with translucent setting powder, just like you would set a concealer to prevent sunscreen getting into your eyes.)

So: a lot of options for you, and your burning eyes won’t prevent you from using SPF!

Please note that this post is not sponsored in any way. We buy products ourselves, with our own money, and don’t accept exchanging goods or money for reviews. We are completely independent, and our reviews reflect that.