This morning, my friend R. send me a text message telling me I had to check out today’s sunscreen article on CNN ASAP. Not one hour later, a publicist I was chatting with mentioned it, too. “What is this revolutionary article?” I wondered. “What amazing revelations about the evils of sunscreen is it bringing to light??” I finally got around to reading it, however, and see that it’s the same warnings about sunscreen that have been known for years. Or, at least, I thought they were known (um, don’t want to be all, “I told you so,” but I wrote about this in Beauty Confidential, and it wasn’t even new then). Apparently, more people than I realized are still in the dark. To wit:
- When picking a sunscreen, choose one that offers UVA and UVB protection. This is called “broad-spectrum”
- UVA is the aging ray; UVB is the burning, cancer-causing ray. According to The Skin Cancer Foundation website, UVA rays may also be carcinogenic and can exacerbate UVB’s cancer-causing properties
- If you have sensitive skin, avoid potentially irritating “chemical blockers” such as avobenzone and Parsol 1789, and instead look for “titanium dioxide” or “zinc oxide”, which are known as “physical blockers”. Chemical blockers work by absorbing UV rays; physical blockers repel them
- Sunscreens are tested in labs, under ideal conditions, and are falliable. They tend to break down quickly, must be tossed after a few months, and need to be reapplied every two hours
- I’m going to repeat that one again: you must reapply sunscreen every two hours!
- There’s no such thing as “waterproof”. It’s a marketing term. So-called waterproof formulas simply take longer to break down and lose their SPF (80 minutes for “waterproof”; 40 minutes for “water-resistant”)
- As you doubtlessly know, SPF stands for “sun protection factor.” What you may not know is that SPF refers to burning UVB rays only. It does not refer to aging UVA rays. SPF’s are also not magic - as I mentioned earlier, the SPF number only holds under ideal conditions, for two hours, when applied properly and generously
- SPF’s are also different for everybody, as they are multiplied by the time it takes you to burn. So, somebody from sub-Saharan Africa likely will not burn after three hours in the sun while wearing SPF 15. My pale-as-Caspar friend who has Irish and Scandanavian roots? Three hours in the sun, SPF 15 or no, will fry her to a crisp. Use common sense, and don’t treat SPF number like magic; view them more as subjective guidelines that are different for every person
- Sunscreen takes about half an hour to become effective, so don’t apply it at noon while you’re rolling up to the beach and expect to be protected; put it on at home well before you’ll be in the sun
- Finally, come to terms with the fact that you are probably not using enough sunscreen. My own totally-random-not-at-all-scientific rule of thumb? Take what you’d normally apply, and triple it. (The official measure is 1 oz., which equals a shot glass)
I’ll post some of my favorite sunscreens soon!
