From SPF to UVA and UVB to FDA, there are so many confusing three-letter combos in the world of sun protection that you just might be tempted to let a naughty four-letter word slip out in frustration. In the spirit of keeping it classy, we here at Project Beauty Blog have decided our best course of action is to take a look at the plethora of sunscreen options and decipher exactly what all those alphabet trios and ingredients really mean.

I know you all wear sunscreen religiously, even during the fall and winter months. (If you don’t, please insert a lie here and save me the tirade.) In fact, according to recent surveys sunscreen use is at an all-time historical high. So why is it that new cases of skin cancer, especially among women aged fifteen to 39, are also at an all time high? Even with all that daily sunscreen usage? What’s the problem?

An article in this month’s Vogue magazine entitled “Screen Stars” (Yep, they had to try to make it glamorous. Go figure.), suggests that the poison may be in the penmanship – or lack there-of. While marketers are great at slapping three-letter trios onto a label, they’re not that great at explaining what the heck those trios mean and how those trios do or do not cover all your sunscreen bases.

Since we’re already on the topic of labels, let’s examine the one number that peaks our attention when tossing a sunscreen into our shopping cart: SPF. SPF stands for Sun Protection Factor and it only, only, only relates to the degree of protection a formula will provide against UVB rays. Ranging from a scant SPF 5 to a whopping SPF 110, SPF’s are essential to gauging how much protection your sunscreen will give you from UVB’s “burning rays". Unfortunately UVB's aren't the only rays to be wary of.

There are two types of UV radiation (Eek! Radiation?! - Yes. Calm Down.): Ultraviolet class B radiation (UVB) and ultraviolet class A radiation (UVA). UVB rays damage the superficial layer of your skin (hence the dreaded sunburn), seasonally vary in strength and generally peak around noon – and yes, before you put your sunscreen down for a long winters nap, this damage can contribute to skin cancer (not to mention freckles, sunspots, age spots and skin that looks like beef jerky.) UVA rays, however are way stealthier. They account for a whopping 95 percent of all the ultraviolet radiation that reaches the earth. They cut through clouds and glass (Driving arm tan? Anyone? Anyone?), and enjoy wreaking havoc all year-round. UVA’s are the little bastards that contribute to sagging skin and wrinkles, all while triggering cell mutations in your dermis which has been shown to initiate skin cancer. With their super-hero wavelengths allowing them to penetrate deeper into the skin, destroying our good friends collagen and elastin, UVA rays are like shiny seek-and-destroy ninjas – and there’s not a damn thing SPF can do about it, ‘cause SPF offers no (nada, zilch, zero) protection against them. And while I know this is already reading like a horror novel – there’s more: there is no uniform or FDA-approved designation for rating UVA protection on sunscreen labels at all. (What!? WHAT!? - I know.



Before you resign yourself to being squashed under UVA’s thumb, there are ways to protect yourself. San Francisco dermatologist and co-founder of Rodan + Fields Skin Care spreads a little sunshine (Poor word choice. - I know.) on the topic by recommending what she considers to be the gold standard primary ingredient on any good “broad spectrum” sunscreen’s label: avobenzone. The magical avobenzone is a chemical sunscreen that absorbs UVA once it hits your skin (Yay!), but if it's not stabalized, it only works for an hour or two after application (Boo! - Calm down, we'll cover 'stablization' in our next posting.) Another winner ingredient, according to Rodan, is old faithful zinc oxide. Sure it can feel thick and give you the look of someone who's spent too much time with a chalk board eraser, but it reflects UVA light off of the skin like a mirror and bounces it back into the environment, and if that’s not super-hero awesome, I don’t know what is. Zinc oxide also contains no chemicals - so it's great for anyone with sensitive skin, acne, rosacea or scarring. Regardless, I’ll take chalkboard face and unceasing re-application over skin cancer and beef-jerky face any day.



Later in the Week: We’ll take a look at the newest crop of super-sunscreen’s, the aforementioned 'stablization', and do the math on SPF! (Math? *sigh* Do we have to? - Yes.)