Do you need SPF first thing in the morning? Liz Earle has shared her view - and it's not what we usually hear

As a beauty journalist with more than 8 years’ experience in the industry, I’ve interviewed hundreds of skin experts – from world-renowned dermatologists to leading aesthetic doctors. And if there’s one piece of advice that never wavers, it’s this: wear a broad-spectrum SPF every single day.

Ask any expert, and you’ll hear some version of the same thing – that sun exposure is the single biggest contributor to premature ageing, and that daily sunscreen is one of the most effective ways to reduce your risk of skin cancer. Which is why the heading “How the sun helps skin age well” in Liz Earle’s latest book, How to Age, stopped me in my tracks.

An authority in the world of wellbeing, health and nutrition, Liz Earle has spent decades championing a holistic approach to ageing well. From travelling to the Blue Zones for This Morning to founding her own magazine, Liz Earle Wellbeing, she’s built a career on exploring what it means to live better for longer. Many will also know her as the co-founder of her eponymous skincare line (the one behind the cult Hot Cloth Cleanser), which helped pioneer the natural beauty movement long before sustainability became industry shorthand.

Now in her sixties, the serial entrepreneur has distilled more than 35 years of knowledge into her latest book. How to Age is positioned as a “wake-up call” – a rallying cry to take control of cellular ageing by understanding what the body needs to thrive. Chapters span everything from anti-inflammatory nutrition and longevity-focused biohacking to what she calls “the new science of pro-ageing beauty.” Naturally, it was the latter I turned to first.

Why Liz Earle doesn't wear SPF first thing in the morning

In chapter 11 of How to Age, Liz Earle builds her argument around one central idea: that the way our skin ages is closely tied to its circadian rhythm. Like the rest of the body, skin operates on a 24-hour cycle. It shifts from daytime protection into overnight repair – and, when that rhythm is in sync, it appears stronger, clearer and more resilient.

It’s here that light comes into play. While early-morning sunlight is already widely recognised for regulating the body clock, Earle takes this a step further – aknowledging that skin cells themselves respond directly to light, not just to signals from the brain. Fibroblasts, the cells responsible for producing collagen and elastin, are governed by their own circadian clocks, which, she argues, are reset through exposure to daylight.

From this perspective, brief early-morning light on bare skin acts as a kind of daily “reset”, helping to prime these cells for the day ahead. Earle links this to improved collagen production, more efficient DNA repair and stronger mitochondrial function within skin cells (all processes associated with healthier, more resilient skin over time).

It’s this thinking that underpins her stance on SPF. Rather than advocating for constant application from the moment you wake up, she suggests a more considered approach – delaying sunscreen first thing in the morning to allow these light-driven processes to take place, before introducing protection as UV levels rise.

It’s important to add that Earle isn’t anti-SPF. In fact, she acknowledges that excessive UV exposure is a key driver of photoageing and skin damage, and that protection becomes increasingly important later on in the day. Not alone in this thinking, Dr Barbara Sturm has similarly spoken about allowing short, controlled periods of unprotected exposure in the early morning and late afternoon, while still advocating for sunscreen in high-UV environments. The emphasis, from both, is on timing and moderation – not avoidance.

And yet, this is where the conversation becomes more complicated. While circadian health and light exposure are growing areas of interest, the relationship between ultraviolet radiation and skin damage remains one of the most well-established facts in dermatology. In the UK, the vast majority of melanoma skin cancer cases are considered preventable, with excessive UV exposure often cited as the primary cause. Against that backdrop, Earle's book certainly opens up a new conversation around the sun and our skin that's well worth having.