Being outside in the sun makes us happy, it gives us vitamin D and it makes us look nice by giving us a nice tan. It also gives us freckles, moles, dark spots, burns, accelerates skin aging, creates wrinkles, disrupts collagen, and it is a well known risk factor for skin cancer.
As any other thing in life moderation is the key, and sun exposure is no exception. There are only two ways to avoid the damaging effects of the sun: you can either avoid it, or be exposed to it sensibly by protecting yourself with a sunscreen. Actually the truth is way more bitter than this: no single method of sun defense can protect you perfectly.
This is the perfect time of the year to talk about sunscreen, even though you should apply it whenever your skin is exposed to the sun, regardless of the time of the year.
But there is a problem, if you go to the pharmacy, supermarket, or even worse online, you will be inundated by the plethora of sunscreens you can choose from, coming in different bottles, different brands, different colors, different ingredients, different types, different prices and different SPFs.
Don’t worry! Antonello comes to rescue you, helping you to have a little bit more of understanding about the different ultraviolet rays, what to look out for when choosing a sunscreen, what to avoid, how to use it, and as usual, my favorite myth debunking.
Before I move on I need to highlight a very important concept: There is no gold standard rule to safely stay in the sun. Applying sunscreen is one of the many things you should be doing, but this is NOT the only thing you should be doing to protect yourself from the sun.
You are probably applying it in the wrong way anyway, so continue reading!
But first…. disclaimer time!
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Ultraviolet Rays (UVR)
Before we jump into the core section of this article, it is important to shed some light on ultraviolet light as this is the agent we are protecting from when applying the sunscreen. Ultraviolet (UV) rays are electromagnetic radiation that come from the sun or man-made devices like sun-beds.
There are three types of UV rays:
UVA – Are the weakest form of UV rays. They penetrate into the deeper layer of the skin and are responsible for accelerated skin cell aging and indirect damage to cells’ DNA. They are responsible for long-term skin damage (like wrinkles), but they may play a role too in skin cancer.
UVB – They have a bit more of energy compared to the UVB. They are responsible for sunburns as they affect the outer layer of the skin (epidermis), as well as directly damaging cells’ DNA. They are thought to cause most types of skin cancers.
UVC – These types of UV rays are the strongest of the three, and because of their high energy they react with the ozone in the atmosphere and do not reach the ground. That’s why you probably never heard about them or read them on a sunscreen bottle because they do not cause skin cancer. However, these rays are often created by man-made tools like UV sanitizing bulbs to kills micro-organisms (in water, air, food, etc…).
UVA and UVB causes irreversible, cumulative damage to the skin cells. This means that if I go out in the sun today without a protection the UV rays will irreversibly damage my skin, and if I were to go on holiday in 5 years to the Maldives (I wish) and be out in the sun again with no protection, my skin will be irreversibly damaged and this will add up to the damage created by today’s unprotected sun exposure.
Are tanning sunbeds safe?
The short answer to this question is a big and loud: NO!
It is a very common misconception to think that tanning sunbeds are a valid alternative to the natural sun because it is safe(r) and that it can “prepare” the skin to the actual sun when you go in hot countries. The reality is that tanning sunbeds are more harmful than the sun itself, because 1 hour tanning session will expose you to 50% more UV rays than the midday sun. According to the BBC, it is estimated that 20 minutes on a sunbed is equivalent to four hours in the sun.
SPF
You have probably come across these three letters very often, especially when buying a sunscreen. Probably this is the only factor you take into account when choosing one, and probably you are also thinking “the higher the better”.
But what is it? SPF stands for Sun Protection Factor and it is a relative measure of how long the sun screen you are applying will protect you from UVB. That’s right! SPF does not apply to UVA, but it only applies to UVB, hence protecting your skin from sunburns and cancer.
Let’s say you are applying a sunscreen of SPF 30, it means that the sunscreen will protect you from 30 times more the time it would usually take you to burn. If you would usually burn after 20 minutes in the sun and apply a sunscreen of SPF 30 it will protect you for 10 hours. But again, this only applies to UVB.
At this point you might think “Oh my God, this is great! I am going to buy the one with the highest SPF number that I can find so that I am more protected”. Well… No. I am afraid to tell you that this is not the case, and it is very complicated to explain why, but I will try to keep it nice and short.
A product with an SPF of 30 allows only the 3% of UVB to hit the skin, whereas a product with an SPF of 50 allows the 2% to hit the skin. It is only 1% difference.
However, there might be a false sense of security when choosing a product with a very high SPF. People tend to stay in the sun for much longer and forget about reapplying sunscreen often because they think they are more protected.
There is no sunscreen with astronomically high SPF that offer 100% protection!
UVA star system
So, we know what to look out for in terms of SPF and protection against the UVB. But how can we see whether a product protects us against UVA and how do we choose the best one?
If the UVB uses an SPF index, UVA uses a star system. You will notice that there is a star rating on the packaging that ranges from 0 to 5 indicating the amount of UVA radiation absorbed by the sunscreen in comparison to UVB. It essentially indicates a ratio between the protection afforded by the UVA protection and the UVB protection. If you see a product with low SPF and high UVA stars, it doesn’t mean that that particular product offers higher protection against UVA, but because the UVA/UVB ratio is about the same.
Sunscreens offering protection for both UVA and UVB are sometimes called “broad spectrum”.
According to the EU Recommendation, the marketed UVA protection should be at least a third of the labelled SPF. When this condition is satisfied you will see the UVA logo printed, which is “UVA” in a circle.
Types of Sunscreens
There are mainly two types of sunscreens: chemical and physical sunscreens. The former acts as an organic filter absorbing UV radiations creating a chemical reaction that expels them out from the skin under the form of infrared energy.
The latter contain minerals that literally reflect UV rays making them bounce back from the skin.
An easier way to understand these two different types is to think of chemical sunscreens as sponges, and physical sunscreens as mirrors.
You can also have a combination sunscreen, containing both chemical filters and physical blockers.
Physical/Mineral Sunscreen
Physical sunscreen contain zinc dioxide or titanium dioxide. They are highly effective against both UVA and UVB, and they work instantly as soon as they are applied on the skin. Additionally, these ingredients have been recently proven to be effective in blocking the visible light. Visible light is responsible for skin discoloration like melasma, dark spots, and post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation – just to mention a few. So applying physical sunscreen can protect the skin against the visible light which is responsible for altered pigmentation in our skin.
Chemical/Organic Sunscreen
They contain a variety of “filters” that absorb the ultraviolet rays.
Unlike physical sunscreens, chemical sunscreens are not effective immediately after their application, but you would need to wait 20 minutes before getting exposed to the sun, and this is because they need tis amount of time to create a layer on your skin to protect you from the UV rays.
They work by absorbing ultraviolet rays and converting them into infrared energy expelled from the skin. They offer good protection against the UVB, but unfortunately they do not offer a great deal of protection against UVA. They are also not really reliable as they do degrade with time ad they also does not offer protection against visible light. So, if you are going for the chemical sunscreen, make sure it does cover you for UVA too.
Moreover, they can cause irritation to the skin, and this is not particularly indicated if you have skin conditions like acne, rosacea, seborrheic dermatitis, and eczema.
The good thing about chemical sunscreens is that they are cheaper when compared to the the physical ones.
How do I know if my sunscreen is chemical or physical?
Whilst there are a lot of ingredients that act as organic/chemical sunscreen, you can only find two ingredients that offer physical protection: Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Dioxide.
So, have a look at the ingredients list at the back and if you see either Titanium Dioxide or Zinc Dioxide then it is a physical or mineral sunscreen, if it doesn’t than it is a chemical sunscreen.
Chemical sunscreen ingredients are: Aminobenzoic acid, Avobenzone, Cinoxate, Dioxybenzone, Ecamsule, Homosalate, Mentyl anthanilate, Octocrylene, Octyl methoxycinnamate, Octyl salicylate, Oxybenzone, Padimate O, Phenylbenzimidazole, Sulisobenzone, Trolamine salicylate.
Stop buying high SPF!
People only look at the big, fat number on the bottle to determine whether a sunscreen is good or not. By now you should know that sunscreen quality goes well beyond a high SPF number.
“Dr David Lim, dermatologist and researcher, reports that “a sunscreen with an SPF of 30 is good enough, anything above is either marketing or crap”, he then continues “what really matters is the amount applied and frequency, things that people often forget about.” The recommended amount is 5 grams – which equals to one teaspoon. “
Stick with an SPF between 30 and 50. Anything above might be misleading and overpromising.
Where should I apply my sunscreen?
Sunscreen should be applied in every exposed area of your body.
There are often missed areas I want you to be aware of, these include ears, behind the ears, around the eyes, nose, all around the neck, and upper chest. The ears are a very common site for sun-related skin cancers to grow, especially squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and basal cell carcinoma (BCC), so make sure to cover them too. For what concerns the neck, you will thank yourself in 30 years time for applying sunscreen today, as it will avoid looking like a turkey.
At this point it is superfluous to say that, if you are in shorts, sunscreen has to be applied on your legs and feet as well and, if you are topless, it should be applied all over the top half of your body.
If you are on a nudist beach, well… you should marinate your font and bac
How often should I apply my sunscreen?
Let’s start by saying that sunscreen should be an integral part of your daily skincare routine (you don’t need to apply in your night skincare routine), regardless of whether you are planning to spend time outdoor in the sun.
Sunscreen should be reapplied every two hours if you are out in the sun, or sooner if you are doing activities that make you sweat. Also, it should be reapplied after swimming, and showering – You might say ” Dude, mine is water resistant”. Well, no doubt about that. But let me tell you, it does wash off. They can claim it to be water resistant as a cream, as it stays on you after you shower or swim, but is not thick enough to guarantee nor widespread enough to guarantee a solid protection.
Should I still wear sunscreen even though my make-up has it already?
Yes! This is because it is unlikely that you are going to be covering your entire face, ears, neck and upper chest with make-up, and these are critical areas that are often missed when applying sunscreen. You can apply your make as a follow up layer, but not as a stand-alone method for protecting yourself.
Sunscreen and environment
I have recently engaged in a very interesting conversation where I was told that sunscreen are toxic for the coral reef and the ocean in general.
As I was aware that certain skincare products (not only sunscreen) contain an ingredient called polyethylene, which is a derivate of plastic, and this cause harm to the marine life, since most of the times they are found in the form of micro-beads (like in the case of physical scrubs), that will eventually end up in the ocean and intoxicate the marine ecosystem.
However, upon further research, I cam across some claims that the ingredient Oxybenzone (found in chemical sunscreens) is responsible to bleach and damage the DNA of the coral reef. I must say though that I could not find and quality research paper that could back-up this claim.
But I came across this paper, where it talks about the measurements of this ingredient in the waters of Hawaii, but this was inconclusive and states:
“Overall, the impacts of oxybenzone and octinoxate to intact corals occur at much higher concentrations than this study found in seawater near coral reefs. Currently, there are only five studies that have looked at the toxicity of oxybenzone and/or octinoxate to corals, so much more research on the toxicity to corals is needed,” said Mitchelmore.
