Jennifer Garner Talks Skin Care, Sunscreen & Melanoma Awareness Month

“It’s become more and more important to me every year,” said Jennifer Garner, referencing her longstanding partnership with Neutrogena. The “13 Going on 30” actress spoke candidly with WWD about her commitment to Neutrogena‘s skin care products, the brand’s new Ultra Sheer Mineral Face Liquid SPF 70 and the benefits of sunscreen just in time for May’s Melanoma Awareness Month.

“There’s really one way to make sure that your skin is protected every season and that is to protect it,” Garner said. The actress, who’s been a brand ambassador for Neutrogena for more than 15 years, explained why “you can’t bargain with yourself every morning” regarding the care it takes to make sunscreen a consistent part of one’s skin care routine.

“Before you leave the house, right after you get out of the shower, whatever your timing is, you have to protect your skin,” she said.

Enter Neutrogena’s latest product launch: Ultra Sheer Mineral Face Liquid SPF 70. It’s a skin care essential Garner applies “every single day no matter what…whether it’s under makeup or it is my makeup.”

The sunscreen is ideal for sensitive skin and features an ultra-lightweight, fast-absorbing formula with UVA/UVB protection. Neutrogena’s Ultra Sheer Mineral Face Liquid SPF 70 also provides all-day hydration for a silky-smooth finish without a white cast.

For years, skin health has been front-of-mind for Neutrogena’s researchers and their product formulas. The skin care and beauty brand’s eight-year partnership with the Melanoma Research Foundation yielded more than $1 million in donations over the years.

“That money goes toward awareness, it goes toward any kind of prevention, free sunscreen for people, it means a lot to me,” Garner said of Neutrogena’s ongoing initiative.

Garner herself has seen the direct impact of Neutrogena’s longstanding partnership with the Melanoma Research Foundation. Her home, and her kids’ bathroom, is stocked with Neutrogena skin care essentials. “I see whatever products they’re into or need, it’s going to be Neutrogena, so I know it’s been tested; I know it’s not a fad; I know it’s backed by science. It’s backed by research and it has incredible minds and incredible research behind it.”

With Melanoma Awareness Month in full swing, Garner reflected on the best piece of advice she would give to young people when it comes to their own skin care. “Nothing looks better in your 50s than sunscreen in your 20s or your teens,” she said. “Skin cancer is the most preventable cancer. You don’t want it. We can avoid it. So, let’s do what we need to do. It just takes discipline and consistency.”