Sunscreen Mistakes

August 4, 2016

Since it’s summer and the thermostat has been set to ‘boiling hot’ across the country, we’d like to take this opportunity to expound upon one of our favorite subjects – the judicious use of SUNSCREEN!

There’s absolutely NO doubt that daily application of sunscreen mitigates the signs of aging, reduces sun damage and greatly decreases your chances of skin cancer. So while you’re opening your sunscreen container and before you squeeze some out onto your soon-to-be slippery hands, take a moment to read these application tips to get the most benefit that your sunscreen has to offer.

SUNSCREEN FACTS:

1. It takes at least ONE teaspoon of sunscreen just to protect your face.

And that doesn’t include your neck, ears or lips! The active ingredients in sunscreens are only about 4-5% of the actual product, so in order to get those active ingredients uniformly applied to your skin, you need to use plenty of product and rub it in well. Using a dab here and there will not protect your skin from the harmful UV rays. For your body, after a day in the sun you should come home with barely half of an 8-ounce sunscreen container for one person and no sunburn if you did your application correctly. So when it comes to applying sunscreen, SLATHER IT ON. There is no such thing as using too much sunscreen.

2. It takes 30 minutes for sunscreen to be effective.

A common mistake is to apply sunscreen when you GET TO the beach or soccer game and then wonder why you get still get sunburned. It’s tempting to blame the product, but it’s actually the way it was used that is the culprit. That’s because it takes at least 30 minutes for the active sunscreen agents to soak into the layers of topical dead skin cells to give you the SPF listed on the container. Chemical sunscreen agents absorb the UV rays and physical sunscreen agents deflect the UV rays. You gotta be nice to these guys and give them a chance to start working BEFORE sun exposure. Otherwise your first 30 minutes or more are completely unprotected sun minutes and those add up to a painful sunburn and increased damage to the skin. So give yourself at least 30 minutes after your liberal application of sunscreen until you’re having fun in the sun.

3. Makeup with SPF in it is NOT as effective as straight up SPF. 

It takes a LOT of sunscreen to protect your skin (see #1). In order to get all the sunscreen protection AND makeup coverage on your skin at the same time, you’d have to use a crazy amount of makeup. You’d look like you were walking around under a plaster cast of your face! Some loose mineral companies also claim to have SPF in their products as well, However in order to get this level of coverage, you’d have to apply the minerals like a thick mask and no one applies their minerals that heavily. Also don’t be tempted to mix sunscreen and makeup in your hand before applying them both! Sunscreen works best when it’s applied first and allowed to soak in, then apply your makeup over it. We could go on about this for DAYS but let’s just say this – MINIMUM SPF 30, non-comedogenic and not combined with any other product.

4. RE-APPLAPPLICATION IS A MUST!

That one had to go in all caps, sorry. Don’t be tempted to think that just because you put it on at 7am, it is still protecting you at 3pm. Count on only 2-3 hours of sun protection per application with NO swimming or heavy perspiring. If you are swimming make it a habit to reapply sunscreen after 60 minutes of water exposure. If you’re going to be in the water for an extended period of time, invest in a comfortable and well-fitting swim shirt with built in SPF to save your skin, time and sunscreen applications.

5. There really is no such thing as waterproof sunscreen.

This one is really big!  Most consumers do not know that according to the FDA, manufacturers cannot make claims that sunscreens are ‘waterproof’ or ‘sweatproof.’  Let that sink in for a minute or for as long as it takes to apply another layer of sunscreen to you or your kid. The FDA regulations for sunscreen manufacturing are as rigorous as they are for pharmaceutical drugs, and rightfully so. Making false or unsubstantiated claims about a sunscreen product puts the consumer at a potentially life threatening risk when you consider melanoma skin cancer will kill over 10,000 people in 2016. Sunscreen is, at best water resistant and some are more resistant than others, offering longer sun protection. Always re-apply sunscreen every 60 minutes while in the water or heavily perspiring and don’t believe the labels that say ‘waterproof’ or ‘sweatproof’ because they’re just not true.

6. Cloudy skies do not mean you can’t get sunburned.

Are you kidding me?! Ultraviolet radiation from the sun filters through all cloud cover, which is why plants are able to stay alive during stormy conditions and they can grow cabbage in Wales in mid-winter! Radiation from the sun is invisible and can penetrate even the cloudiest and haziest of skies. Make it a daily ritual to apply sunscreen every morning to your skin after cleansing. It’s the key ingredient to keeping your skin looking and feeling younger, even-toned and smoother.

7. SPF 125 is not more effective than SPF 30.

Unfortunately, those marketing geniuses in the 80’s realized that bigger must always be better and if something is better, it is worth more. Right? Well not really. SPF60 is NOT doubly as effective as SPF30. In fact, if applied correctly, SPF30 cuts out about 96% of the sun’s damaging rays. SPF50 takes it to about 98% and SPF75 is 99%. And of course, you need a broad spectrum sunscreen to protect you against both UVA and UVB rays to get near these percentages. The best broad spectrum sunscreens have both physical (titanium dioxide, zinc oxide) and chemical (such as avobenzone, oxybenzone and octyl methoxycinnamate) sunscreen agents.

8. No sunscreen is 100% effective at blocking UV radiation, but a tree and a hat are!

No topically applied product can block out 100% of the sun’s damaging ultraviolet rays which is why you only see labels with the word ‘sunscreen’ and not the word ‘sunblock.’  In 2012, the FDA ruled that sunscreen manufactures could no longer identify their products as ‘sunblocks.’  UVA and UVB rays are the two main components of radiation from the sun. UVA rays are longer and account for 90-95% of the radiation reaching Earth. They are the culprits for premature aging because they reach the deepest layers of the skin. UVB rays are shorter and cause visible damage to the skin, resulting in a sunburn or suntan. Regardless of how much sunscreen you apply and how often you apply it, nothing beats staying in the shade and wearing a wide-brimmed hat and long sleeves when exposed to the sun’s harmful and invisible UV rays.

9. Using last year’s bottle of sunscreen is like wearing rubber boots with holes in them.

Ineffective. Unfortunately, the active ingredients in sunscreen do deteriorate over time and that means that they are not as effective after a while as they used to be. So check the expiration date on your bottles and do not use them after that date!

There is no such thing as a safe tan!

There you have it. Phew. That was a long one. 🙂 Hope you all enjoyed and maybe learned something new. If you understood ONE thing from these posts, please let it be: Wear your sunscreen!