Sunscreen Pearls: Practical Counseling Tips for Everyday Dermatology Practice

Sunscreen counseling may have once been simple, but the work has become a bit more complex. These days, patients come in with many great questions. What does “sensitive skin” really mean? Is baby sunscreen different? Do sprays work? Are mineral sunscreens safer? What about vitamin D, sunscreen absorption, and “clean” beauty claims?

In this episode of The Spot Check, Jamie Restivo, PA-C, is joined by Zoe Diana Draelos, MD, one of dermatology’s leading voices in photoprotection, cosmetic science, and skin care research, for a practical, myth-clearing conversation on sunscreen science and patient counseling.

Dr Draelos begins by decoding the language patients see on sunscreen labels. “Sensitive skin on a sunscreen label means absolutely nothing,” she explains, from a regulatory standpoint, though many products marketed this way tend to rely on mineral filters such as zinc oxide and titanium dioxide and may undergo sensitive skin panel testing. Baby sunscreen, she adds, is also more about marketing and store placement than a distinct formulation category.

The conversation moves from labels to what actually happens when patients use sunscreen. Most sunscreen failures are not failures of the product but failures of application, like too little product, skip areas, lack of a continuous film, water exposure, rubbing off, sweating, and missed reapplication. Spray sunscreens require particular care, too. Spray sunscreens require particular care, too. The practical takeaway is clear: spray, rub, spray, rub, spray, rub to build an even, protective layer.

The episode also tackles SPF selection, reapplication, mineral versus chemical filters, tinted sunscreens, eye irritation, vitamin D concerns, and ingredient safety. Higher SPF provides a greater margin of error because “no one ever applies a sunscreen optimally,” she says. And when patients worry that sunscreen prevents vitamin D production, she recommends checking levels and using oral supplementation rather than relying on sun exposure.

Finally, they discuss the FDA approval of bemotrizinol, the first new sunscreen filter approved in the U.S. in more than 25 years. Photostable, broad spectrum, and already used globally, bemotrizinol may help usher in a new era of sunscreen formulation in the United States.

From marketing claims to real-use counseling, this episode gives dermatology clinicians practical language and clinically grounded pearls to help patients choose, apply, and actually use sunscreen more effectively.