Skinspiration..... Just Remember SPF

by Nicole Webb

*Disclaimer; All work produced in this skinspiration blog is owned by Nicole Webb, with copyrights to La Beauté Ltd.  

The Sun is out and with this many, including myself, move to doing as much as we can outside; enjoying the heat; gaining some needed Vitamin D; possibly gaining a slight tan (or in some cases sunburn) and ultimately enjoying our Summer.  This is all fabulous as long as we all remember that the sun is actually extremely dangerous.
After the recent media exposure around sunblock and the horrific burns of a 4 month old baby and the mother blaming the sunblock - I want to let you know the facts on the sun and SPF! 


To understand an SPF -  Sun Protection Factor (SPF) you first need to know how it is calculated.
This calculation is; minutes to burn without sunscreen x SPF number = maximum sun exposure time.   

An example of this calculation is;

You burn WITHOUT a sunscreen applied in 10 minutes, you have a SPF30 to apply, so theoretically you can stay in the sun for 10(mins)x30(SPF)=300.
That is 300 minutes or FIVE hours!
Now you think great I am protected for the WHOLE afternoon, because theoretically following the calculation you are.....But here is where it all goes terribly wrong!

A few home truths!

1. When they are conducting the tests required for a sunscreen company to gain their SPF rating, they lather the area in sunscreen -  they recommend the 1oz rule, that is one full shot glass amount of sunscreen! In reality nearly everyone uses between 25-50% less sunscreen than was used when gaining the SPF rating so therefore we have to at least half the above calculation of protection time. 

2. Be aware of the time. Think of yourself like cooking a chicken.
You put the chicken in the oven, once it is cooked you need to remove it from the oven because simply 'its cooked'. If you don't take it out of the oven, the cooked chicken will burn.
What this means in relation to the sun is; once your protection time for the day has expired you are 'cooked ' and you need to remove and stay right out of the sun.
Reapplying SPF does not mean you can start again - because even if you re-entered your chicken into the oven once cool it is still cooked!  

3. Beware of your SPF rating. There is a line of thought that the higher the SPF the longer you can stay in the sun and in theory that is correct. But you also need to think what sunscreen really is! 
Sunscreen is a positive/negative. Sunscreen is created from a bunch of chemicals but these are chemicals that we must have and wear in order to protect ourselves, their protection ability outweighs the chemical exposure!
A SPF 30 blocks 97% of UV rays 
A SPF 50 blocks 98% of UV rays 
That is a 1% difference but a huge difference in chemical exposure and certainly isn't allowing you to sit in the sun all day! 
Ideally I recommend a SPF 30 mineral based sunscreen that is well applied! 

Also important to note - 

  • An SPF must be applied a minimum of 20 minutes before sun exposure.
  • Babies should not be in the sun full stop! Their natural burn time is extremely fast and ideally chemicals should not be applied to their skin. 
  • Our bodies must have Vitamin D to function but some people are getting Vitamin D deficient due to not getting enough UV exposure. It is important that your bare skin gets moments of exposure to the sun (but not in the peak of the day). The best part of the body to expose for quick absorption of  Vitamin D is your spine.  
  • Always apply sunscreen to your face but then ALWAYS keep it out of the sun! The sun is our skin's biggest creator of ageing - gain your Vitamin D by exposing other areas of your body. 

Finally, 
Always remember the skin is the largest organ of the body, treat it with respect because at the end of the day ONE WAY OR ANOTHER IT WILL GET THE LAST SAY!

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