Sunscreens are an important accessory in the daily skincare routine for many people. Choosing a good sunscreen that works best for you needs some working knowledge about sunscreens.
Regular daily use of SPF 15 sunscreen can reduce your risk of developing squamous cell cancer (SCC) risk by about 40 percent, and lower melanoma risk by 50 percent.
– SkinCancerFoundation
What is SPF? How does it help to choose a sunscreen?
Sun Protection Factor (SPF) measures sunscreen’s protection against sun radiation.
There is a significant difference between the SPF of sunscreens
- A sunscreen with SPF 15 can block 93% of the sun rays, and one with an SPF 30 can offer 97% protection. Therefore SPF 30 is the minimum recommended SPF for sunscreens.
- Sunscreens with SPF 50 and greater can only provide marginally better protection and have some inherent disadvantages too.
- However, according to studies, people apply sunscreens in much lesser amounts than those tested in the laboratories when the SPF of a particular sunscreen is being labeled. The amount they use provides 50% less sun protection than the SPF labeled on the sunscreen.
When and how much sunscreen should you apply?
Since the amount of sunscreen applied to the skin affects its sun protection. Therefore, you should use a specific amount to achieve the desired SPF labeled on a specific product.
- The amount of sunscreen applied should be equal to a shot of glass.
- Multiple coats of it should be liberally applied over the skin.
- After other cosmetic products or moisturizers, sunscreen should be applied last over the skin.
UV rays can’t be filtered easily by clouds and can even get through car glass or windows at home.
- Don’t forget to use sunscreen before driving outdoors, during overcast weather, or even indoors.
- Since sun exposure increases at high altitudes when the rays hit and reflect against the snow, sunscreen should be applied before skiing or outings on the hills.
- Apply sunscreen 20-30 minutes before going outdoors during the day, regardless of the weather conditions.
- Reapply every 2 hours.
- Apply again if it is washed off by water (swimming/ bathing), excessive sweating, or wiped off the body.
- Use other sun-protective measures- clothing, hats, sunglasses, and sunscreens.
What sunscreen should you choose?
Supermarket aisles are stacked with many sunscreen formulations, and picking a good sunscreen can be difficult.
Choose a broad-spectrum sunscreen containing physical and chemical ingredients that can protect against a wide range of sunrays in the UV spectrum: UVA and UVB.
The choice of sunscreen also depends upon your skin type.
- Lotions and creams have an oily base and work best on dry skin. These formulations may also have moisturizing ingredients for excessive skin dryness.
- A gel formulation with a watery base works better for oily and acne-prone skin. Look for the “non-comedogenic” label on the sunscreen.
What is the recommended SPF? Why most sunscreens are marketed with an SPF 50?
Higher SPF sunscreens don’t offer much protection against UVA and contain higher concentrations of chemicals harmful to the skin. Therefore, most countries limit the SPF label on sunscreens at 50 and others at 30.
Many people, especially frequent sunbathers, believe sunscreens with SPF 70 or 100 can offer foolproof protection against the sun’s rays and the resulting damage. This is not true.
SPF beyond 50 doesn’t offer significantly additional protection, as is clear from the fact that sunscreens with SPF 50 offer protection against 98% of UVB rays as compared to SPF 100, which can block 99% of them.
Using sunscreens with higher SPF creates a false sense of security in overzealous users, and they might even skip other protective measures like sun protective clothing and accessories.
Can pregnant women or infants use sunscreens?
Sunscreens can protect the skin against sunburns and a wide spectrum of other sun-induced damage to the skin and other organs of the body.
Pregnant women can use sunscreens. They should:
- Prefer sunscreens containing only physical sun-blocking agents like Titanium and Zinc oxide.
- Avoid chemical sunscreens to prevent the fetus from being exposed to chemicals present in sunscreen.
Since infants have sensitive skin and are more prone to sunburns, it is better to use sun-protective clothing and minimize their exposure to the sun instead of sunscreens.
Are sunscreens ingredients harmful to your body?
FDA concluded that few sunscreen ingredients are absorbed through the skin and into the blood.
However, whether they are harmful to our bodies is not well known.
Since the benefits of applying sunscreen far exceed the possible harm (however uncertain). Therefore, you should continue using sunscreen until data from further studies is available.
