It is important to choose your sunscreen according to your skin type.
- Depending on your skin type, you do not choose your sunscreen in the same way.
- UVB rays are harmful and cause sunburn, but you must also protect yourself from UVA rays.
- Sunscreens should be applied at least every two hours.
Summer is here, it’s vacation time. Enjoying the beach or the swimming pool in peace requires good sun protection. But among the wide range of products, how to choose the cream that suits you?
There are several types of ultraviolet rays. UVB radiation is the most powerful: it is he who is responsible for sunburn. It is more or less strong depending on where you are, the position of the sun, the time of day, the weather…
Sunscreen: choosing the right index
To protect yourself from UVB rays, you must choose a cream with an adequate sun protection factor (SPF). The index varies from 6 to 50+ and indicates the ability of a cream to delay sunburn. Fair-skinned people will notice redness on their skin after about ten minutes of exposure. A cream with an index of 15 will take 150 minutes of action before their skin begins to burn. The choice of SPF level depends on your phototype, i.e. your pigmentation and your sensitivity to the sun. For range exposure, you can rely on the following benchmarks:
– Fairly resistant skin (matte or black, no sunburn): SPF 6 to 10
– Intermediate skin (tans easily, rare sunburn): SPF 15 to 25
– Sensitive skin (white, frequent sunburn): SPF 30 to 50
– Extremely sensitive skin (white, freckles, does not tan): SPF 50+
And to recap…
UV protection: from theory to reality
The calculations of these indices assume the application of two grams of cream per square centimeter of skin. This is not the case in reality! In practice, an index of 50 is generally considered to correspond to an index of 15. Therefore, for white skin, choose a cream with an index of 50 and apply it every two hours.
There is also the question of UVA radiation, which is more diffuse and penetrating than UVB. It cuts through glass or clouds and gives a tanned complexion after a sunny day, unfortunately only temporarily. To effectively protect against UVA, the protection index must be equal to one third of the SPF index. In this case, there is a visible UVA logo on the cream tube.
Either way, apply the cream liberally at least every two hours, and more often when swimming, sweating, or chafing. And don’t trust the labels “full screen” or “100% protection”, they have no value.