We all know how much sunburn can hurt, not to mention the danger of sun exposure and skin cancer. Most of us also are aware of the safety sunscreen lotions provide in saving our skin from burning and long term damage from overexposure to sun. Reading and understanding a sunscreen label is not difficult, however, most people are a bit lost at this stage.
They don’t fully understand what they’re reading when it comes to what the ingredients are, SPF ratings, how much they should apply, and how frequently they need to reapply. As a result, according to the survey of JAMA Dermatology, only 34% of people completely understand the SPF rating system.
Here is an overview of the terminology along with some basics so you have a better understanding:
Broad Spectrum
There are two types of UV rays that can cause serious damage to your skin. UVA (ultraviolet A) rays are damaging to the skin because they penetrate at a cellular level resulting in wrinkles, sagging, and other signs of premature aging. UVB (ultraviolet B) rays generally affects the outer surface of the skin, resulting in sun burn. But make no mistake about it, both cause skin cancer. So when choosing a sunscreen lotion, make sure it offers broad spectrum protection against both UVA and UVB rays.
Sun Protection Factor or SPF
Sun Protection Factor (SPF) is the measure that says how long you can safely stay in the sun before UVB starts burning the skin. For example, if you are not using sunscreen, your skin will start turning red in 20 minutes. Now, if you are using an SPF 30, it will provide you 30 times more protection in sun, before getting burned. However, other factors come into effect. Factors like sweating and swimming. Either of these will decrease the length of time you are protected. To counter that, the user will need to reapply more frequently. A higher SPF rating, say 50, will only provide 1% more protection, not almost double like most people would assume.
Water Resistance
The term “Water Resistant” signifies that the sunscreen is effective for 40 to 80 minutes after applying. However, if your skin comes in contact with anything that causes it to rub off, will decrease the length of safe time. In this case you should reapply sooner rather than later. Also, understand that no sunscreen is “waterproof”, only water resistant.
Active Ingredients
Active ingredients are the ingredients used in the manufacture of the sunscreen that actually protect your skin from harmful sun rays. Physical sunscreens, also referred to as natural sunscreens or organic sunscreens sometimes, use zinc oxide and titanium dioxide to protect the skin from harmful UV rays. Chemical sunscreens, on the other hand, use chemicals like one or more of the following: Oxybenzone, Octinoxate, Octocrylene, Octisalate, Avobenzone, and Homosalate. The problem with these chemicals are that they are damaging to the environment, specifically to living coral reefs.
