Yes, You Need To Apply SPF On Brows: Here's How Without Leaving A White Cast

Ask any dermatologist or esthetician how to make sure your skin and hair retain the vibrancy of your youth, and chances are sun protection ranks high on that list, if not as the No. 1 tip. And guess what? Your brows are no exception. 

Yes, you need to protect your brows from excess sun exposure. It may sound intuitive, especially if you're one to frost yourself in layers of sunscreen, but you'd be surprised by how many skip over the arches when applying their daily SPF.

Just as you protect your skin and hair from UV rays, so, too, should you protect the brows. You can always slip on a sun hat or rock a pair of wide-framed sunglasses to cover up the area when you're outside (sun care is more than just a bottle of SPF, after all)—just don't leave the brows completely unprotected; as they're particularly vulnerable to those rays. 

"The brow area is especially important because brows are the highest point of the face that shield the eyes," says celebrity brow artist René de la Garza (Think about it: Makeup artists recommend tapping a highlighter on the brow bone, as that's where the sun would naturally hit). "Excessive amounts of sun exposure can make brow hairs dry and brittle," and that crispiness can lead to sparser patches over time, altering your brow shape. Not to mention, they can fade in color—as someone with naturally light brows, I can attest they all but disappear in the summer, which is why I up my brow tinting schedule during the summer months. 

All that to say, sun protection is nonnegotiable to keep those face framers fluffy and vibrantly hued. For sunscreen, we're partial to a broad-spectrum mineral number, featuring zinc oxide—which poses another challenge, given zinc oxide's uncanny ability to leave a ghostly cast in its wake. 

Sunscreen serums are much more lightweight than their standard lotion counterparts, and their thinner consistency leaves a practically undetectable trace on the brows. And because these are skin-care/SPF hybrids, they're often loaded with other actives, like hyaluronic acid and antioxidants, which can further lubricate and protect those arches.