I went to high school in an era of tan-chic. I got a lot of general grief about living in a beach town and being very pale but I'll always be happy with the decision. When I was a preschooler, my mother's father had to have his entire ear removed because he developed a cancerous spot on it after a lifetime of sun exposure without protection. A few years later, when I was still in elementary school, my father had to have a growth removed from his arm. By the time I was a teenager, at a time that everyone was running for bottles of Sun-In and laying out with tips from popular teen and fashion magazines to get the perfect bronze, I was looking for wide-brimmed hats and lightweight long-sleeve clothes.
Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States with more than 3.5 million skin cancers in over two million people diagnosed annually. Each year there are more new cases of skin cancer than the combined incidence of cancers of the breast, prostate, lung and colon.
Let me assure you, sun protection has come a long way even in the last few years. There are more non-greasy, decent-smelling options than I used to dream of being available. We're coming up on most stores yearly sales on sun protection products and Sephora's annual Sun Protection kit. However, there's a million terms floating around and how do you know what's best for you? What's the difference between sunblock and sunscreen? What does SPF signify? How often should you be reapplying these? Reef-safe? "All-natural?" Wait, sunscreen and sunblock expire?!
This post has the possibility of getting lengthy, so grab an iced tea and settle in for a little sun-talk after the jump.
Let's just jump right in with something I hear all the time:
"I don't need to wear sun protection on cloudy days or in the winter, do I? What about in the car, I'm behind glass!"
Yes, yes you do. The sun's rays still make it through on a cloudy day, specifically UV-A rays that are damaging through glass and in all natural light - that includes in the shade, in the car, in your living room with the blinds open. These are the rays that penetrate deeply into your skin to cause premature aging and long-term damage. UV-B rays are responsible for your sunburn and immediate skin irritation and are less of a problem on sunny days but that doesn't mean you're safe.
Take a look at Bill McElligott, a delivery truck driver. One side of his face was next to the glass window of his delivery truck for years, getting UV-A damage and the other side was more protected by being in the shade. You can see the difference that even a little protection can make:
Anything that reflects light - water, snow, shiny buildings and pavement - increases your exposure, just ask any snowboarder who has gotten an upper-eyelid sunburn from reflected sun off of the snow. You should be extra careful in these environments especially because the light may be coming from angles you didn't prepare for (and don't forget your sunglasses!)
"You keep saying sunscreen and sunblock - what's the difference?"
There are two methods of protecting your skin from the sun - mineral physical blockers like zinc oxide and titanium dioxide that keep the rays from ever reaching your skin and chemicals that might both block and absorb UV-A and UV-B rays. The mineral physical blockers are referred to as "sunblock" and the chemical absorbers and blockers are lumped together as "sunscreen." Like most things, there are benefits and drawbacks to both.
Sunscreen is often colorless, easy to blend, and available in a wide variety of products. However, there are a few studies that have shown that avobenzone, the most common and effective chemical UV-A absorber, breaks down with exposure to the sun; which is why you usually see it now in combination with other sunscreens. Oxybenzone actually penetrates the skin - which sounds like a good thing until you find that in your body, these chemicals behave like hormones and can be endocrine disrupters. Both of these chemical sunscreens can contribute to aging free-radical skin damage, which is part of what you're trying to avoid! A not insignificant portion of the population has allergies to one or more chemical sunscreens - red skin, rashes, itching, blisters, raised bumps, acne, and hives can all be sunscreen-related (and some are mistaken for "I got a sunburn while wearing sunscreen!") Then there's the coral reef issue (I'll cover that in another section.)
Sunblock can be thick, goopy, leave a white cast on the skin, cause flashback in photos, can transfer to your clothing, and usually doesn't wash off easily. Sunblock works differently than sunscreen and is recommended by the American Cancer Society and the American Melanoma Society for those with high sensitivity to UV radiation. Titanium dioxide can cause acne in people who are sensitive to mineral makeup; zinc oxide is generally considered safe and is the most common ingredient in "baby" sunscreen. "Nano particle" physical sunblocks (not to be confused with "micronized") are controversial at the moment - especially in powder sunscreen treatments like foundation and powdered primers - because of the inhalation risk and the generally unknown effect of nanoparticles on living skin.
So, which is right for you - physical or chemical? It really depends on what you'll be doing, your skin, and your comfort level with potential endocrine disrupters (which include soy foods, plastic water bottles, most metal food cans, most non-organic animal product foods, phthalates, "fragrance" in beauty products, non-stick pans, and about half of the shampoos on the market.) I use physical sunscreen because I have to be very careful with endocrine disruptors and I have allergies to several chemical sunscreens. I don't mind the slightly more frequent reapplication (every two hours, check your sunscreen for manufacturer recommendations) and have learned over a lifetime of wearing black clothing and white sunscreen how to set it in places that matter and not worry about it on the inside of my clothing. If you really want something that's completely colorless, is combined in your primer (a word of warning on that in a minute,) or have mineral sensitivities chemical sunscreen may be a better bet for you.
What does SPF signify?
SPF stands for Sun Protection Factor and is a multiplier for your time to burn in the sun. For instance, I burn in under four minutes (I know, right?) on a UV-5 day (that's moderately sunny in most places. You can check your UV forecast for the day at Weather.com and a number of other places. For most people, the difference between "sunny" and "cloudy" is enough information, though.) That four minutes can be multiplied by the SPF on my sunblock to tell me how long I can be outside safely on a given day - for SPF 30, that means 120 minutes or about 2 hours which is also the time to reapplication on the sunblock I wear. SPF 15 gives me an hour outside, SPF 50+ gives me about 200 minutes or 3 hours and 20 minutes. I'll explain why in a minute, but you want to choose a sunscreen that's going to give you about the amount of time you think you'll be outdoors on a given day.
That means that an SPF50 sunscreen blocks twice the amount of UV as an SPF 25 sunscreen, right? Seems logical but it isn't true. SPF 15 sunscreens filter out about 93% of UVB rays, while SPF 30 sunscreens filter out about 97%, SPF 50 sunscreens filter 98% - the higher you go, the smaller the difference gets. No sunscreen or sunblock handles 100% of UV radiation, nor would you want it to - a small amount of daily exposure helps maintain your Vitamin D levels, which are tied to skin health, prevention and treatment of depression, and calcium absorption; you can get Vitamin D through food and supplements but studies have shown that it's simply not as effective as about 15 minutes of sunlight per day (protected, of course!)
The FDA recently reworked how companies may label their SPF products, so you might notice that your makeup primer recently lost its SPF label or the number went down considerably. This is because companies have long made claims that were inflated - sure you can get SPF 45 out of a foundation with a little titanium dioxide - if you cake it on like Mrs. Doubtfire.
How do you like my SPF 100 frosting?
Similarly, products that you might not apply the full recommended amount of should probably not be counted on for sun protection - you need to apply 2 milligrams of sunscreen per square centimeter of skin. I know, but what does that mean? That means a shotglass (two tablespoons for my under-21s) for your commonly exposed skin (face, neck, chest, lower arms, ears, tops of your feet, and hands) - a nickel-sized dollop for your face alone. If I applied a nickel-sized amount of my foundation, I'd look like a trainwreck. So I consider the SPF in my foundation a bonus - not a protective measure.How often should you be reapplying these?
The vast majority of sunscreens and sunblocks need to be reapplied every two hours. All sunscreens and sunblocks need to be reapplied after heavy sweating, exposure to water, toweling off, or and other activities that would pretty much take your makeup with it. Wait, though, I'm wearing an SPF 50 sunblock - that means 3 hours and 20 minutes, right? Well, yes and no. Yes, your skin can handle that long in the sun with that level of protection. However, it doesn't mean that your sunblock can - your sunblock is prone to wearing off, soaking in, and generally not hanging around any more. That means that you still need to reapply. This also means that once your time is up, it's up - no matter how frequently you've reapplied, it's time to move to the shade, go inside, drag out that sun umbrella, put on a hat, or anything else you can do to get out of the sun for the rest of the day.
But my t-shirt is protecting me, right?
Sadly, no. Most cotton t-shirts have an effective SPF somewhere around 7, as low as 3 if the shirt is thin, white, or wet. Dark-colored clothing (contrary to popular belief) is more protective than white clothing. You can get wash-in treatments for your clothing to up the SPF for your clothing but be warned, they can give clothes something of a blue cast in my experience. You can buy "UPF" rated clothing (that's Universal Protection Factor) from places like Sun Precautions, REI, Land's End (usually only pool wear,) Patagonia, and Athleta. You can probably guess from the names, most of this stuff isn't stylish - you'll probably want to pick out a hat and head for the shade instead.
Reef-safe? "All-natural?"
These are unregulated claims - so keep in mind that they can mean anything the producer wants them to mean.
A sunscreen is truly reef safe if it is free of oxybenzone (benzophenone-3,) butylparaben, octinoxate, ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate, and 4-methylbenzylidene camphor (4MBC.) Safe for what, though? A few studies have shown that the above listed chemical sunscreens promote coral bleaching and viral infections. But I live in Seattle, we don't have coral reef so why do I care? Buying products that contain harmful ingredients lets the market edge out the safer ingredients, especially when the harmful ingredients are cheaper or easier to work with in general. Additionally, nearly everything you put in or on your body will wind up in an ocean somewhere - if not from the shower you take wearing it, from the plastic trash it generates in packaging. It doesn't hurt me to not use these products, so I don't. It's up to you but you might want to look in to it.
All-natural. Man does this label make me cranky. Cyanide, digitalis, hemlock, botulism, arsenic, and poison ivy are "all-natural" but you probably don't want to rub them into your skin. The intent of the claim is good - they're trying to let you know that you're probably not looking at a petrochemical concoction. Unless you are, there's no telling without reading the ingredients. As a label, especially an unregulated one, it is fairly useless. So while you're doing your yearly store run, read those ingredient panels. Yearly? But I bought a gallon of Blue Lizard sunblock - that should last me years right?
Wait, sunscreen and sunblock expire?!
Yep, they sure do! A lot faster than you may be used to with cosmetics. Unlike most cosmetics, sunblocks don't expire based on open date, they expire based on manufacture and purchase date. You should throw out sunscreens after a year in your possession - they can last up to 18 months after manufacture but you don't know how long they've been in the warehouse process. The expiration date on the product should reflect this, as well. You can stock up if you know how much you'll use in a year or you can buy as you empty. As you can imagine, buying as you empty can be problematic in the winter as many stores still stock on the basis that you should only wear sunscreen in the summer.
While you're there, grab some UV-protective glasses, preferably in a style that covers your entire eye! It seems like a lot to worry about but it's all very important - like the recycling - and will have benefits for years to come. Once you add sunscreen to your morning routine, you'll wonder what the big deal was in the first place. (This post written with the presumption that we all know now that tanning is bad, 'mkay? If you want that glow, pick up a self tanner and some bronzer - they're not all orange like they used to be.)
(I'll be doing a post later on physical blocker SPF products I like, how I use them, and so on. I wanted this post to be more informational than review so that it will be something I can refer to later.)
Helpful links and tools:
Current UV level app for iPhone
USEPA's UV forecast app for iPhone
UV level app for Android
USEPA's UV forecast app for Android
USEPA's UV level website
Weather.com's UV forecast page
Weather.com's Sun Safety Recommendations Quiz (Personalized) - this is helpful if you want to get help choosing SPF or other protective measures for an event
References:
American Cancer Society
The Skin Cancer Foundation
2008 Peer-reviewed paper on coral reef damage
2004 article by Dr. Judith Reichman
Environmental Working Group (EWG) sunscreen information - read this one critically, I think they're a little biased
Dr. Arthur W. Perry
WebMD - be careful with this link, it will convince you that you have a terminal illness
Merck - big pharma, right? Ehn, they make the stuff, they know.
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