Sunscreen – A life saver. Find out why before it's too late

Living in a city like Chennai, we’ve all got burnt by the sun at some point or the other no matter how much we try to avoid it. 

Let’s get things straight. You NEED sunscreen during the summer whether you like it or not.

Here’s why – The sun exposes us to two kinds of radiation.

UVA - long wavelengths of harmful rays that promote tanning and aging, with capabilities to penetrate deep into the skin.

UVB – Short wavelengths of rays that cause redness and skin cancer.

Getting sun burnt increases your chances of skin cancer and melanoma.

 

Here are some other effects if you aren’t spooked out yet – fine lines, wrinkles, dark spots, uneven skin tone and darkened acne spots. 

Now that you know how cruel our big bright source of life is, you should probably figure out how to protect yourself against it.

CHOOSING A SUNBLOCK

There are three kinds – PHYSICAL, CHEMICAL, MIXTURE

PHYSICAL – Deflects/Blocks rays from skin, very stable and usually leaves a white cast. (Look for titanium dioxide and zinc oxide)

CHEMICAL – Absorbs rays to prevent penetration. It is usually stable and doesn’t leave a white cast. (Look for avobenzone, oxybenzone, octylcrylene, uvinul, octisalate, homosalate, helioplex and meroxyl) I know, it sounds like Greek and Latin, just go with it.

MIXTURE –Mix of both physical and chemical sunscreens with a minimal white cast. (Look for any combination of either types)

CHOOSE TYPE OF APPLICATION

Are you going to use an SPF stick? A mist or spray? A cream/gel? Or a powder? This is totally up to you.

CHOOSE LEVEL OF PROTECTION

SPF – how much? Let’s do the math. Imagine a person can stay in the sun for 10 minutes before they get a sunburn. If he applies SPF 50 his safe sun duration is 10(base)x50(SPF)=500 minutes.

THE PA SCALE – Some screens use a photo aging scale. The scale shows protection level and looks a bit like PA+ or PA++ or PA++ You get the idea. The more +’s, the more protection. Plenty of makeup has SPF/PA on them but it’s unlikely that it will provide enough.

APPLY – at least ¼ teaspoon for face and neck. Apply around 1 oz for body.

REAPPLY – OFTEN! UV Rays are the strongest from 12 PM to 4 PM. Make sure you reapply every 2 hours.

INCREASED PROTECTION – Sunglasses, hats, SPF Lip Balm, RUN to the shade whenever possible.

Few do’s and dont’s

Try and avoid the spray type and powder type sun screens. Just trust us, okay?

Avoid super HIGH SPF

No Oxybenzone and other endocrine disrupting chemicals

No retinyl palmitate

Throw away bug repellents that come with sunscreen

NO Tanning oils (not that we use a whole lot of those in India)

Apply sunscreen after moisturizer and before using a primer.

Try to apply it at least 15 minutes before you get out of the house.  

I know, I know, that's a lot of information. But we wouldn't be telling you this if it wasn't important!

Don't get cooked this summer :)