Spring is here and the sun is shining. This is the time of year that you should start applying sunscreen daily, but many people don’t use sunscreen until summertime, when they are at the pool, or on the beach. This time of year many people don’t use sunscreen at all, since it isn’t that hot they forget they need to! Any time you are outside for a long period of time you should protect your skin.
The question is, what kind of sunscreen should you be using? And, while choosing the right sunscreen is important, even more important is that you use it correctly. In the past, sunscreens only protected against UVB rays, which are the harmful rays from the sun that cause sunburns. SPF refers to these rays. Scientists have recently found that UVA rays, while they don’t cause sunburn they do penetrate the skin and cause wrinkles and put your skin at risk for skin cancers.
When choosing your sunscreen, you should pick a broad spectrum sunscreen that protects from both UVB and UVA rays. SPF only rates UVB rays, and you should pick a sunscreen that is 15 SPF or higher. For most people SPF is high enough, as there is a smaller increased benefit from the higher SPFs, for example, SPF 15 blocks 93% of the rays while SPF 30 blocks 97% of UVB rays, which isn’t really that much higher. There is no rating for the UVB rays, so you should check for certain ingredients. Your sunscreen should contain at least one of the following: ecamsule, avobenzone, oxybenzone, titanium dioxide, sulisobenzone or zinc oxide.
Once you have picked your sunscreen, how you use it is even more important. You should always apply sunscreen 30 minutes prior to sun exposure. Don’t skimp on your sunscreen, if you don’t use enough you won’t get the full benefit. You should also reapply sunscreen every two hours unless you are exercising or swimming and then you should apply it more often. You can also apply sunscreen under makeup on a daily basis. It is common for make-up and moisturizers to have sunscreen already in them.
So get outside and enjoy the fresh air and sunshine! Just remember to pick your sunscreen carefully to get protection from all of the sun’s harmful rays. And about 30 minutes before you go enjoy that soccer game, or tennis match, apply sunscreen generously so it has time to sink in.