What is in your sunscreen?

Selecting sunscreens is often not as straightforward as one imagines. There are a few crucial factors to consider when opting for your sunscreen:

1. The Sun Protection Factor (SPF) is not the only characteristic to look for when assessing a sunscreen. The SPF will inform you of how successful the product is in protecting you skin against ultraviolet-B light, which is the cause of sunburn in the short term and skin cancer in the long term. However, the SPF gives no indication of the product’s ability to protect you against ultraviolet-A light, to which the production of wrinkles is often attributed to. Substances that indicate protection against UV-A are avobenzone, Mexoryl and titanium dioxide and in order to be confident you are protected against UV-A, ensure that these are present.

2. Some sunscreens are effective for longer time periods than others. Sunscreens reduce in effectiveness as the UV light breaks them down to the extent that they are no longer useful in screening your skin. Substances that do not break down despite the UB light are titanium dioxide, Mexoryl and zinc oxide. Therefore you are assured of protection at all times, irrespective of the time of day.

3. People often go swimming or sweat and this can cause problems with some sunscreens not remaining on the body and exposing people’s skin. Titanium dioxide and zinc oxide are often the most effective in remaining on people’s body. When choosing products it is often advisable to look for “ultramicronized” titanium or zinc which means that it is transparent to light, meaning it doesn’t look pale on the skin, as well as maintaining the job of protecting against UV light.

4. Sunscreens come in many forms, including as creams, gels, and sprays. Creams are most suitable for use on smooth skin, whilst some creams are prepared using water-resistant formulas for the specific reasons that people may begin to sweat or engage in water sports. Gels and sprays can be used for areas where there is a considerable amount of hair and using cream may not be suitable.

It is also important to consider the fact that sunscreen must be to an individual person’s taste and be something they are comfortable in using. For instance, there’s little merit in choosing a family member a sunscreen with a SPF of 40 if they do not use it frequently enough as they consider it to be too pale.
Even if your skin is already indicating the sign of damage from the Sun, applying a sunscreen on a regular basis is a way in which the effects of the Sun can be drastically slowed down.