Choosing the right sunscreen

Sun protection is one of the most important ways to prevent skin cancer from occurring in the first place. The sun's ultraviolet rays (UV Rays) have several negative effects on the body, including increasing the likelihood of developing skin cancer. More commonly, it causes sunburns, increase wrinkling.

Sun damage is often very slow, accumulating over time. Often this gives the impression that sun damage is non-existent, especially to younger people. In youth, the skin reproduces and regenerates quickly, and will not show any outward evidence of sun damage. However, in reality, the skin is still absorbing damage that is invisible.

As we get older, the damage that has accumulated becomes visible in the forms of brown spots, broken blood vessels, wrinkling, and skin cancer. The most important step that you can take to reduce your exposure to sun damage is to regularly use a good sunscreen.

What do you look for in a sunscreen? They all seem the same.

Look for these key points:

1. Broad Spectrum Protection:

Broad spectrum sunscreens protect the skin from both UVA and UVB rays. Most sunscreens will provide protection from UVB rays, which cause sunburn and redness, but unfortunately only some sunscreens protect you from UVA rays, which are more subtle and cause wrinkling, and long-term sun-damage. Skin cancer is cause by both UVB and UVA rays. The bottle of the sunscreen should specify that it provides broad spectrum sun protection, or that it specifies otherwise that it provides both UVA and UVB protection.

2. SPF

SPF is probably the first thing that you notice in a bottle of sunscreen. SPF stands for sun protection factor, and is expressed as the number that denotes how much longer one can stay in the sun without being burned when compared to being without sunscreen. In theory, a sunscreen with SPF 15 allows you to stay in the sun without being burned 15 times longer than would be the case without the sunscreen. It is important to note that this number only measures UVB protection, as there is yet no measure of UVA protection. We recommend that you choose sunscreens which offer at least SPF 15.

3. Comfort, price, and preference

Most advice completely ignores a user's preference. We think that this is an important factor in your decision. It is true that the broad spectrum protection and a reasonably high SPF is a must for a quality sunscreen, if the consumer doesn't use the sunscreen, it won't matter much that the formulation is of high quality. Similarly, choose a price range that you are comfortable with, and a consistency that you like, as you don't want to skimp on the amount of sunscreen you use. Numerous studies show that people are using far less than the amounts recommended to provide your skin adequate protection. A shot-glass or an ounce of sunscreen should be used to cover all the exposed parts of the body.

4. Antioxidants

Although not as important as the first three points, products that contain antioxidants can provide your skin with additional benefits. Antioxidants are a class of ingredients that can neutralize free radicals which form part of the process that results in skin aging. Often included in cosmetics, ingredients like Vitamin A, Vitamin C, and Beta-Carotene can help reduce damage that is caused by the oxidative process of free radicals.