Everyone, no matter the age, should wear sunscreen on skin exposed to the sun. Sunscreen is tested to determine its effectiveness against the sun’s UVA and UVB rays. The sun protection factor, or SPF, is a measurement of how well the sunscreen protects the skin from sunburn when exposed to ultraviolet rays. This SPF number is measured by the amount of time it takes for exposed skin to burn when it’s covered in sunscreen, opposed to when it’s not. That means, if you apply sunscreen approximately every two hours, an SPF 30 can protect your skin for 10 hours. With that being said; SPF 30 blocks 97 percent of UV rays, SPF blocks 98 percent, and SPF 100 blocks 99 percent. Unfortunately, no sunscreen is going to block 100 percent of all UVA and UVB rays. It’s also always better to use a broad-spectrum sunscreen as well, to protect your skin not only from UVB rays but UVA rays as well since they infiltrate the skin more deeply. Your Friends at Geyser Falls Water Theme Park are more than happy to help guide you in the right direction to stay protected from the sun near Meridian!
Applying the Right Amount
Applying the right amount of sunscreen is crucial for it properly work on your skin. The average person needs about a full ounce to cover their entire body and face, to be most efficient. Even if you are a little darker, or tan a little easier, applying the right amount of sunscreen is an important step in protecting your skin from harmful rays.
Application Frequency of Sunscreen
When applying sunscreen, it’s important to remember to shake the bottle vigorously to equally distribute the ingredients throughout the sunscreen, even if the container doesn’t say so. Making sure the sunscreen is applied at the right time is also important as well. Sunscreen should be applied about 15 to 30 minutes before going outside, to ensure that your skin absorbs the active ingredients.
Sunscreen Ingredients
Most sunscreens can be classified as inorganic or organic depending on the type of active ingredients that are found in them. Inorganic sunscreen has ingredients such as zinc oxide and titanium dioxide, that protect the skin by absorbing about 95 percent of UV rays.
Organic sunscreens, on the other hand, have active ingredients that are not zinc oxide and titanium dioxide. The remaining active ingredients cause a chemical reaction that converts UV rays into heat so that they do not hurt the skin.
Sunscreen and Your Skin Type
The type of skin you have should always influence the type of sunscreen that you put on to protect yourself. Various types of sunscreens can affect everyone individually, that is why it is important to know your skin and read the labels of sunscreen bottles. So, for example, if your skin is:
- Sensitive – It’s beneficial to get a sunscreen that is inorganic, and is alcohol and fragrance-free
- Dry – A sunscreen with a moisturizer, and alcohol-free, is best for a person with dry skin
- Oily – Sunscreens that contain alcohol, is light-weight, and dry fast, is better for oily skin
- Acne-prone – It’s best to avoid any cream-type sunscreens since they tend to be heavier and can clog pores.
- Darker – Any type of organic sunscreen would work best since they do not leave a white residue or a sunscreen that’s marked as “sheer”