It is getting hot out, the sun is out and we all like a nice glowy tan. Without the correct sun protection you will burn or worse yet cause irreversible damage to your skin. So I’m here to give you a quick run down of what you need to know to stay safe in the sun.
How Does the Sun Cause Damage?
Firstly, I’m going to start by explaining how the sun damages our skin in the first place, I wont patronise you I’m certain you already know most of this if not all of it.
Sun damage is caused from UVA and UVB rays which are two of the three different forms of ultra-violet light from the sun’s rays.
UVA and UVB can both burn our skin and cause that sore redness we all hate! However, UVB is behind the majority of the sunburn and most cases of skin cancers.
UVA has a larger wavelength than UVB, thus it is capable of penetrating the skin more deeply. This is what causes your skin to age, losing its elasticity. These rays also encourage the production of free radicals which can be dangerous and ultimately lead to cancer. More about Free-radicals in a later post!
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What Does SPF mean?
SPF (sun protection factor) this is how much protection the sunscreen gives from burning. For example SPF10 allows you to stay in the sun 10x longer without burning than unprotected skin.
This only works if you apply the sunscreen liberally, and fully cover your body ensuring a sufficient amount is distributed across the exposed skin. If you don’t do this, you wont have the protection labelled!
It is important to remember that the protection from the UV rays does not increase exponentially! SPF30 will protect you from 97% of the suns rays where SPF50 protects you from 98%. It is the duration before burning which is affected by the SPF rating.
How Do I choose which Sun Protection Factor I Need?
Taking the above information into consideration every time you purchase an SPF. How long can you usually sit in the sun before going pink? If you’re and English rose, like myself (super pale and fair skinned) it will probably be around 10 minutes.
You have got to be honest with yourself about this! Don’t tell yourself, ” I don’t burn” because all skin types burn. Once you have decided how long you can be exposed for before burning you can then calculate which SPF you need. There is a huge range of sun protection on the market now, you can find almost anything you could want.
E.g. SPF30
So you burn after 10 mins exposed to sun without protection.
SPF30 will give you (30 X 10mins = 300mins) This is 5 hours protection.
So for Obvious reasons you need to re-apply and as mentioned above, you only get this protection if you apply the sunscreen liberally.