Unless you’re using a moisturizer with SPF, you shouldn’t treat sunscreen and moisturizer as interchangeable. At the same time, you can’t rely on standard moisturizer to protect you from the sun. It’s better to lather on sunscreen after you’ve applied regular moisturizer. Plus, sunscreen isn’t designed to restore your skin’s moisture balance. Most sunscreens don’t contain the helpful ingredients that many moisturizers do. So they don’t offer the same benefits of those ingredients.