75% of People Skip This Skin-Care Step and Derms Say It’s the Most Important One

Welcome to ‘Dear Derm,’ our brand-new series in which dermatologist Mona Gohara, MD shares serious skin-care realness. In each episode, she’ll answer your most burning beauty questions and give you all the tools you need to take your glow game to the next level. 

If you put on sunscreen every day, congratulations. You are among the 25 percent of people who are actually following the advice that every dermatologist would give to you, according to data from an online skin-care survey. As for everyone else, well, we need to have a talk.

In the latest episode of Well+Good's Dear Derm, Mona Gohara, MD, a board-certified dermatologist explains why it's critically important that we're all wearing sunscreen every single day of our lives: Over 95 percent of the signs of aging in skin come from the sun. And as she lets us know loud and clear, there is absolutely no reason to skip this critical step, because there's a perfect product out there for everyone.

If deciding which sunscreen you should slather on every day is what's holding you back from regular use, Dr. Gohara’s got you covered. According to her, there are two types of SPF on the market—chemical, which absorbs into the skin and blocks out UV rays, and mineral, which forms a physical barrier on the skin and bounces off the sun’s rays. And hot tip: If you have acne, the best SPF for you will be different than the best SPF for someone with, say, rosacea (check out the full video breakdown above to find your perfect match).

The most important thing you need to know when choosing a sunscreen, though? "You can't take the Tinder approach," says Dr. Gohara. "Don't pick the one that smells good or looks good or that you like the way it's packaged, because those relationships aren't going to last. Instead, take the time to get to know the products. Make sure it fits into your lifestyle, because those are the products you'll use every day, and it will become a beautiful, long-lasting relationship." Here's to never swiping left on SPF again.

Want more of Mona's mind-blowing beauty knowledge? Check here for the ingredient that she calls the "little black bress" of skin-care, and don't forget to subscribe to Well+Good's YouTube channel for all kinds of wellness advice straight to yuor feed.