Everything you know about sunscreen is wrong
By Zoe Foster
Well, almost… there’s a disturbing level of confusion about sun protection. So, in an attempt you save your skin (and ours), we present a no-frills refresher course. Read it, learn it, live by it.
FALSE: You can be in the sun all day, as long as you reapply your sunscreen.
Let’s refer to the chicken theory on this one, devised by Dr Ken Marenus from Clinique: “Think of it like baking a chicken. You baste the chicken and put it in the oven for an hour. When you take the chicken out, it’s cooked. If you re-baste it and put it back in the oven, the process doesn’t start again, the chicken burns. Your skin is the same – when it’s cooked, it’s cooked.”
In poultry-free terms, there is a limit to how long each of us can spend in the sun without burning. And no sunscreen will protect you after you reach it.
To calculate your “chicken time”, multiply the time it takes you to burn (redden) without sunscreen by the SPF number you use. So, say it takes 10 minutes to burn. And you wear SPF 30. After 300 minutes in the sun, your sunscreen stops working. After that, any sun exposure could possibly cause irreversible damage to your skin.
FALSE: You only need a small quantity of sunscreen.
You need at least a golf-ball sized amount of sunscreen lotion (or several thick layers of spray) for your body. Most of us use about a quarter of that, effectively turning out SPF 30 into SPF 7. Always apply 20 minutes before going outside. And wear a hat, cover-up clothing and really big sunnies.
FALSE: Moisturiser has SPF 15 so you don’t need sunscreen, too.
Face lotion with SPF is for brief periods in the sun, like walking to work. Everything else, from going to the beach or having a chat outside with the neighbours, is significant exposure. So wear a full broad-spectrum sunscreen under your face cream and a foundation with SPF, too.
FALSE: SPF 30 is twice as strong as SPF 15, so you can use less and tan for longer.
Seems logical… but no. SPF measures time, not strength. (If your skin burns without protection in five minutes, then SPF 15 gives you 75 minutes max in the sun.) To ensure ongoing protection, reapply sunscreen every two hours, or whenever you swim or sweat. (Running around doing errands included.)
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