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There are a lot of good reasons to start using sunscreen. And honestly any reason is a good reason. If it’s a super-aesthetic package or the right influencer that draws you in, that’s a good enough reason to do something that is 100% good for you. 

But the question comes up: does sunscreen make your skin lighter? 

And the answer is one of those annoying answers that I always seem to be giving on this blog: yeah, sort of. 

(I know you are so tired of hearing ‘sort of’ from me, lol.)

Let’s get into it. 

Sunscreen prevents skin darkening

Okay, you know this part already — whether you use chemical sunscreens or physical sunscreens, your skin color is getting less dark, because you’re not being exposed to UVB rays. (Those are th

e “burning” type that American sunscreens do successfully prevent against!)

If you want to learn more about UVA rays and protecting yourself against skin aging, that info is here: Best UVA Sunscreen for Anti-Aging and Skin Protection [2024]. The best sunscreens protect against both UVA and UVB. 

But anyway, if you used to not use sunscreen, and you start, especially if you’re using one of the high quality mineral sunscreens, you will probably see some skin lightening. 

This isn’t because of a lightening or bleaching ingredient. It’s just that you used to have darker skin tones than you naturally have due to the UVB radiation. Consistently using sunscreen will allow you to revert to your natural skin color.

So, sunscreen use reveals your natural skin tone. (If you’re into color analysis, this is also going to be the skin tone that’s most harmonious with your palette!)

​How does sunscreen lighten skin?

It is so important to mention that sunscreen does NOT bleach or whiten your skin. It is not going to change your skin tone or make you lighter than your natural skin tone. 

Bleaching products do exist, but they are generally very unhealthy for skin and have (thankfully) become rare in the United States. 

Sunscreen prevents the harmful UV light from reaching your skin. When your skin is exposed to those harmful UV rays, it leads to the production of melanin, so the skin can protect itself. 

Melanin is a good thing! Melanin production also gives us our natural skin tone — skin of color takes its color from melanin. So it’s not that we want to get rid of all melanin or try to get lighter skin tones than we have naturally. 

Rather — it’s that the melanin we get from the sun forms sporadically, leading to uneven skin tone and age spots. (And, of course, the risk of skin cancer.) So, the extra skin pigmentation we get from the sun can lead to skin damage in addition to increasing our skin cancer risk. 

When do I start to see results from sunscreen?

In the month or so after you start using sunscreen every day, you’ll start to see your skin look a shade or two lighter, even if it’s winter. 

If you’re a little bit older, you may also see any sun damage that you might have begin to fade. Those benefits will also get more significant as time goes on, as long as you stay consistent using the right sunscreen before any UV exposure. 

As time goes on, the benefits start to build up. It can take up to ten years for sun damage to show up on your face. (So, when you’re 28, you’re seeing the sun damage from the lifeguarding job you had when you were eighteen!) So, sunscreen is absolutely a long-term investment in your skin health.

It wouldn’t be a blog post about sunscreen if I didn’t link the famous truck driver image! This photo shows the effects of UVA rays on the face of a man who drove a truck for decades. The side of his face closer to the window accumulated decades of sun damage. Though the wrinkles are more prominent, you can also see significant sun damage on the window side — the little tan spots in his undereyes and along the damage on his cheeks.

I like how I look with a tan. Why should I wear sunscreen?

Not everyone wants their lightest possible skin tone, and that’s cool. People of color might also not like the idea of wanting the lightest skin color they can get. (They are also most likely to struggle with finding a broad-spectrum sunscreen that doesn’t leave a white cast!)

​And I have seen the tans coming back in style in the last year or so. A few years ago, a deep tan would have been seen as “out” or a sign you weren’t taking care of yourself. I wish health stuff wasn’t a trend!

But: you can get a self-tanner to give you the look you want without getting dark spots on your skin in the future! 

UV damage doesn’t just give you a tan, and there are more aesthetic drawbacks beyond just the increased risk of skin cancer. It causes:

• discoloration and dark spots
• burst blood vessels 
• uneven skin tones
• fine lines (that will lead to wrinkles later on)
• premature aging (and this doesn’t take 10 years–you can see these differences in your mid-20s)

Self-tanner quality has come a LONG way since the last time a deep tan was in during the mid-2000s. You can get a self-tanner that’s specific to your skin tone (cool tone girls — we have options!). A tan is not worth the harmful effects of UV radiation. 

​How do I pick a sunscreen?

.I wrote a lot about this over at Best UVA Sunscreen for Anti-Aging and Skin Protection [2024], but basically you’re looking for a sunscreen that’s going to block all the sun’s rays — both UVA and UVB. We don’t have the best filters available to us in the US, so some people choose to buy international sunscreens. (Korea and France are really popular places to buy.)

If you’re looking in the US, the best sunscreen options will have either zinc oxide or titanium dioxide. These ingredients form a physical barrier that prevent sun rays from reaching your skin to act on it. These are the only ingredients available in this country that will fully protect against all rays. Physical sunscreen has its drawbacks:  it can leave a white or grey cast on dark skin tones. 

Other ways to deal with sun exposure: long-sleeved shirts or protective clothing with sun protection factor (SPF), a wide-brimmed hat, and as good sunscreen as you can get yourself to wear every day and reapply every two hours. 

I’m an outdoor type of girl, so water resistant sunscreen is really important to me for running, cycling, and swimming. You might not care about water resistence at all! The best way to find your perfect sunscreen is to try different types of sunscreens — I love the Sephora Sun Safety Kit as a way to get started if you’ve never worn sunscreen regularly.

I always wear sunscreen and I still have sun damage. What do I do now?

Sun damage is notoriously difficult to get rid of once it’s there. 

The cheap answer: diligently wearing sunscreen and limiting your sun exposure will fade your sun damage significantly. You can also use a few fairly inexpensive products like kojic acid (often found in a soap or cream) that will inhibit the melanin and stop it from developing a deeper color. 

There’s also a topical product available in the US called hydroquinone that can prevent sun spots from darkening. These products are…questionable. They’re legal in the United States but banned in the EU and many other countries, and they are sun-sensitizing. So if you’re not 100% on point with your sunscreen, you can actually end up worse off than you were before. 

Even in the US, it’s recommended to use hydroquinone for three months and then stop for three months, so there’s clearly some risk there. 

I used the Ambi Fade cream, which is very inexpensive. The product itself does not feel harsh or drying at all, and it is effective. But it’s important to observe the safety stuff as well. Be sure to be SUPER on top of applying your sunscreen multiple times a day so you don’t make things worse!

The expensive answer​ to getting rid of sun damage is the permanent one: laser skin treatments. If you want to see the dark spots gone for good, laser is a solution. 

IPL will cost you $100-$200 a treatment, depending on where you aer, and it will work but take many treatments. I’ve never had a good Groupon experience with IPL for either sun damage or my rosacea, honestly. I’m sure there are good opportunities out there but I have never experienced them. 

Laser is more expensive (I paid $400 per session at a package rate) but it’s very effective. I saw permanent reduction in sun damage from the first appointment. I had paid for a package of three treatments, and by the third, the technician said that there wasn’t enough sun damage left to fill the appointment and could we focus on my rosacea too? (Um, YES.) 

I don’t have before and after pictures of the laser (I so wish I did!) but it was the Cutera Excel V+. I had a super positive experience and can highly recommend this laser. Your laser results are only as good as the person behind the laser, so this is not the procedure to cheap out on. I saw a nurse practitioner in a plastic surgeon’s office, and that was a great experience. 

Other lasers that will work for sun damage: Fraxel, Clear and Brilliant, or YAG. It’s better to let an experienced practitioner tell you what is going to work best for you.

Final thoughts

So, sunscreen will probably end up lightening your skin a little to it’s natural shade. It won’t make you lighter than you’re supposed to be. 

And if you don’t want that natural skin tone, you can use a self-tanner to get the shade you want. Even though it seems like an extra step, it’s going to ensure you have healthy, young-looking skin for decades. It’s worth it to do it right!