DECIPHERING SUNSCREEN LABELS: Application Encore
May 05, 2011 Posted by Corrie Shenigo
Earlier in the week I made promises. I know, I know. Promises are commitments and while I typically try to steer clear of such things, I make the exception for you – my good readers here at Project Beauty Blog. So here we go. I hope you’ve had your morning java, ‘cause we’re going to dive headlong back into our Deciphering Sunscreen Series and I think you know what that means. That’s right. It means math. Well math-ish.
Specifically (notice that there is an S, a P, and an F in that word? Clever.) SPF and what exactly the number on the bottle means. Remember a while back when the FDA coyly toyed with the idea of capping any SPF claims above 50? No they didn’t do it yet, but it did bring to light an interesting question. Is the SPF 5000 that I slather on whenever my ghostly exterior hits sunlight (alright, not really 5000 – more like SPF 110) really all it’s cracked up to be?
Bring on the tears, because the answer is probably, no. In Vogue’s May 2011 article “Screen Stars”, David Leffell, M.D., and the Big Cheese of Yale’s Dermatologic Surgery and Cutaneous Oncology program, lays it straight: there is very little difference between the UVB protection provided by an SPF 30 and an SPF 60. Here’s the deal, SPF 15 provides about 94% protection from UVB rays, SPF 30 provides about 96% protection, SPF 45 provides about 97% and SPF 60 provides about 97.5-98%. It seems the higher the SPF number, the lesser the protection increment. Leffell calls it “SPF inflation” – I call it math-stuff.
The reality is that the number probably doesn’t matter all that much. According to a Q&A conducted by USA Today, Otis Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society says that the numbers themselves are more like averages. “For someone who’s prone to burning, a sunscreen that’s labeled SPF 30 may act more like an SPF 10. For another person, the same product may act like an SPF 60.” (*screech*)
What really matters is whether or not you’re using your sunscreen correctly by using enough, adequately covering all your bits and parts (I recently went kayaking near the Keys and accidentally missed both of my knees… not a good look.) and copious reapplication. Just think of ‘sweatproof’, ‘waterproof’ and ‘all-day’ sunscreens as mythical beasts, like the Chupacabra or Nessie. Leffell explains, “People see high SPF and they think they don’t have to reapply, so the numbers aren’t helpful in that regard.”
Okay, so numbers-schmumbers, let’s talk application. The general consensus directs consumers to apply about a one-ounce shot glass of sunscreen at least 20 minutes before you traipse out into the sun so that it has time to absorb into your skin. Not when you’re already roasting at the beach and not after you’ve applied a full-face of make-up or even a slathering of moisturizer. Just slap it on directly out of the shower and move on with your day. Done. Oh… not totally done: prepare to re-apply.
In an article entitled “Sunscreen Application Smarts” at GoodHousekeeping.com, clinical professor of dermatology at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City, Neil Sadick, M.D., suggests re-applying full-body sunscreen coverage every two hours and immediately after any significant physical activity (i.e. swimming or anything that induces a sweat). And don’t forget you’re face!
Listen, none of us wants to have to reapply our sunscreen for a mid-afternoon lunch after we’ve slaved over our morning make-up ritual, but it’s important. "The biggest mistake people make is not putting enough on their faces," says media go-to dermie Ava Shamban, M.D., “devote at least a teaspoon of [the aforementioned] ounce to your face, ears and neck.”
You might be saying to yourself, “but a tan makes me look healthy.” Repeat after me: There is no such thing as a healthy tan. There is no such thing as a healthy tan. There is no such thing as a healthy tan. Now say it however many times it’s going to take for your brain to absorb it as a fact – and then proceed to applying that information however you’re going to apply it. You can lead a horse to the sunscreen, folks – but you can’t make that horse slap it on. Okay. I’m off to the beach. (I kid! I joke!)
Up Next: Super-sunscreens and an answer to the make-up conundrum!
Specifically (notice that there is an S, a P, and an F in that word? Clever.) SPF and what exactly the number on the bottle means. Remember a while back when the FDA coyly toyed with the idea of capping any SPF claims above 50? No they didn’t do it yet, but it did bring to light an interesting question. Is the SPF 5000 that I slather on whenever my ghostly exterior hits sunlight (alright, not really 5000 – more like SPF 110) really all it’s cracked up to be?
Bring on the tears, because the answer is probably, no. In Vogue’s May 2011 article “Screen Stars”, David Leffell, M.D., and the Big Cheese of Yale’s Dermatologic Surgery and Cutaneous Oncology program, lays it straight: there is very little difference between the UVB protection provided by an SPF 30 and an SPF 60. Here’s the deal, SPF 15 provides about 94% protection from UVB rays, SPF 30 provides about 96% protection, SPF 45 provides about 97% and SPF 60 provides about 97.5-98%. It seems the higher the SPF number, the lesser the protection increment. Leffell calls it “SPF inflation” – I call it math-stuff.
The reality is that the number probably doesn’t matter all that much. According to a Q&A conducted by USA Today, Otis Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society says that the numbers themselves are more like averages. “For someone who’s prone to burning, a sunscreen that’s labeled SPF 30 may act more like an SPF 10. For another person, the same product may act like an SPF 60.” (*screech*)
What really matters is whether or not you’re using your sunscreen correctly by using enough, adequately covering all your bits and parts (I recently went kayaking near the Keys and accidentally missed both of my knees… not a good look.) and copious reapplication. Just think of ‘sweatproof’, ‘waterproof’ and ‘all-day’ sunscreens as mythical beasts, like the Chupacabra or Nessie. Leffell explains, “People see high SPF and they think they don’t have to reapply, so the numbers aren’t helpful in that regard.”
Okay, so numbers-schmumbers, let’s talk application. The general consensus directs consumers to apply about a one-ounce shot glass of sunscreen at least 20 minutes before you traipse out into the sun so that it has time to absorb into your skin. Not when you’re already roasting at the beach and not after you’ve applied a full-face of make-up or even a slathering of moisturizer. Just slap it on directly out of the shower and move on with your day. Done. Oh… not totally done: prepare to re-apply.
In an article entitled “Sunscreen Application Smarts” at GoodHousekeeping.com, clinical professor of dermatology at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City, Neil Sadick, M.D., suggests re-applying full-body sunscreen coverage every two hours and immediately after any significant physical activity (i.e. swimming or anything that induces a sweat). And don’t forget you’re face!
Listen, none of us wants to have to reapply our sunscreen for a mid-afternoon lunch after we’ve slaved over our morning make-up ritual, but it’s important. "The biggest mistake people make is not putting enough on their faces," says media go-to dermie Ava Shamban, M.D., “devote at least a teaspoon of [the aforementioned] ounce to your face, ears and neck.”
You might be saying to yourself, “but a tan makes me look healthy.” Repeat after me: There is no such thing as a healthy tan. There is no such thing as a healthy tan. There is no such thing as a healthy tan. Now say it however many times it’s going to take for your brain to absorb it as a fact – and then proceed to applying that information however you’re going to apply it. You can lead a horse to the sunscreen, folks – but you can’t make that horse slap it on. Okay. I’m off to the beach. (I kid! I joke!)
Up Next: Super-sunscreens and an answer to the make-up conundrum!