All Your Burning Questions About SPF

As you may already know, SPF is the number one skincare essential you should have in your lineup.

We all need to be wearing Broad Spectrum on our face, neck & decolletage. This is what protects from UVA and UVB rays. UVA rays are responsible for sun spots, wrinkles, age spots and liver spots. UVB is what creates sunburns, darkening, thickening and melanoma cancer.

When shopping for a sunscreen you want to make sure it protects from both rays, and must say broad spectrum. You can check the star rating on most bottles to find out the levels of protection it offers .In this sense, an everyday SPF is not just protecting you from future skin cancer but also the advanced light-related ageing that was mentioned slightly earlier. When it comes to the level of SPF, we suggest no lower than 30. Most people do not apply a thick enough layer so your 3o can end up being a 20. We suggest using a 50+ to make sure you are covered regardless. Sometimes makeup can have SPF in it as well, which can be great for doubling up/layering it on.

2 Types of Sunscreen to know:

There are two different types of sun protection: physical and chemical.

Physical SPFs are called this because the active mineral ingredients in them physically reflect UVA and UVB rays away from the skin. The most common mineral ingredients found in physical SPFs are titanium dioxide and zinc oxide.

Chemical SPFs have ingredients like avobenzone and oxybenzone, for example, which work to swap UV rays into heat that is then released from the skin.

Basically, physical sunscreens put a coat over your skin for protection while chemicals turn your skin into the protection itself. There are pros and cons to both!

Physical mineral-based sunscreens are known for their typical thick-white-smear look. Some believe that chemical sunscreens can cause breakouts but others believe that physical sunscreens can cause breakouts so it is not so cut and dry. Since chemical heats up your skin, it can oftentimes cause heat rashes and react with certain environments. Like salt water, chlorine water etc. Trial and error is key!

Personally, we like mineral-based sunscreen, as they are more natural and provide higher technology protection from free radical damage and other sun-skin related concerns.