When going to the beach, there are various SPFs that people can choose to buy, the higher the number, the better the protection. Does having 100 SPF screen protect your so much more than 30 SPF? SPF is the amount of ultraviolet B rays sunscreen blocks. Sunscreen does not block UVA rays, which damages the skin more than UVB rays. But at the end of the day, both UVB and UVA rays damage the skin and lead to skin cancer. Most people do not understand what the number of SPF means in sunscreen. SPF 30 does not block double the sun from using SPF 15. According to a Florida dermatologist James M. Spencer, “ SPF 15 product blocks about 94% of UVB rays; an SPF 30 product blocks 97% of UVB rays; and an SPF 45 product blocks about 98% of rays.” No sunscreen will ever block 100% of UVB rays. It might be in your best interest to use a sunscreen with a higher SPF if you have paler skin and to reapply often, especially after get wet.
There is an experiment that shows that higher SPF sunscreens do work slightly better than sunscreens with lower SPF. The experimenter used different types of sunscreen: SPF 0 (control sheet), SPF 30 cream, SPF 30 spray, and SPF 50 cream (because the experiment believes that nothing over 50 SPF is better than 50 SPF) (sources claim different information). The experimenter smeared/sprayed the appropriate sunscreen onto its labeled plastic rectangle with the same thickness people usually apply when using sunscreen and then placed it over top of a photosensitive paper. The sheets were placed outside in the sun and were timed to be outside in the sun for two minutes each. After the two minutes passed, the photosensitive paper was rinsed in cold water for one minute to let the images show and then they were left to dry.
The results of the experiment show that the SPF cream worked well only if used in large amounts, which isn’t as typical of a person to do. The spray 30 SPF surprisingly worked better than the 30 SPF lotion. The SPF 50 lotion worked the best out of all three sunscreens.
There are third variables in this experiment that need to be considered. How much sunscreen SPF 30 spray was used.. could it have been more than an average person would use? What brands were used when conducting this experiment? Should two different brand have been tested? Also, was there not an appropriate amount of lotion used for the 30 SPF lotion to have reliable results. Should the experimenters have tested the lotions for longer than two minutes to see what the long-term effects of the sunscreen are? These are all things that people need to consider when considering what SPF sunscreen to use.
I have a darker skin tone, so usually I am fine wearing little to no sunscreen during the summer and I do not get burnt. Some people I know can do the same, while other people need to wear constant sunscreen to not end up looking like a tomato! At this point, most people know what works for them and as long as you can go to the beach and not completely fry your skin, that is what is important!
http://www.theusualmayhem.com/2012/06/experiment-do-higher-spf-sunscreens.html
http://www.webmd.com/beauty/sun/high-spf-sunscreens-are-they-better
This is an important subject as many people don’t realize how important wearing sunscreen is, including yourself. Everyones’ skin needs to be protected from the sun, those with darker skin just have more melanin which absorbs more of the damaging rays. That doesn’t mean that you’re completely safe, darker skin is just a little better at protecting itself than lighter skin. Also, SPF is an indicator of how long it will take for the damaging rays to reach the skin. The higher the SPF, the longer your skin is protected for. Most of this is explained in this article: http://www.skincancer.org/prevention/sun-protection/sunscreen/sunscreens-explained
I wonder why they tested both spray and lotion for SPF 30 , but only lotion for SPF 50? That’s very odd to me. Also, at the end of your post you mentioned that you don’t think you need to put on sunscreen because you have darker skin. Just because you don’t burn, doesn’t mean you’re not getting damaged by the sun. Here’s a quote from an article I found: “Or if you think your naturally dark skin doesn’t need sunscreen, think again. “People with darker skin are definitely less likely to burn,” Stein says. “But they can still burn and should wear some form of sunscreen that protects against UVA and UVB.”
If you’ve got a tan, either from the sun or a tanning bed, Stein says it means your skin is damaged. “A tan,” she says, “may give you a little bit of protection, but you can still burn.”” http://www.webmd.com/beauty/sun/sunscreen-myths
Before reading this article I thought that a higher SPF would lead to a bigger change in the amount of UVA rays that get blocked. I was unaware that the change was less than 5% for an SPF increase of 15. Now that I know the truth about SPF and sunblock I will think about how much more help I am getting when I go for the highest SPF possible.
Being very pale and of Irish descent I found this post extremely helpful. I was always under the assumption that SPF is helpful to a certain extent and at some point it is no longer useful. I think this study was conducted in a such a way with a variety of trials that the results are trustworthy. I am interested in how there was a difference in effectiveness between lotions and spray. I was under the impression that spray was always better because it clung to your body more and lasted longer, however this doesn’t appear to be the case. If SPF doesn’t make that much of a difference it’s clearly a marketing ploy by companies to falsely advertise more sun protection when in fact there isn’t.