“When people use SPF 100 they think they're invincible - that they can just stay in the sun for much, much longer time. Markowitz.Īnother issue people gain when choosing a high SPF is a false sense of security. a physical sunscreen, the amount of water resistance and the thickness of the sunscreen itself are much more indicative of the type and length of protection you can expect from a sunscreen product,” says Dr. “Choosing between applying a chemical vs. While a higher SPF does block more rays, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a better option. It is not true that a higher SPF number is better. Wang MD, chair of The Skin Cancer Foundation’s Photobiology Committee and director of dermatologic surgery and dermatology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer. “And if you extend that over a lifetime, that's an enormous amount of damage,” says dermatologist Steven Q. For example, SPF 15 still lets seven percent of UVB rays through while SPF 100 only lets one percent through, meaning your skin is being exposed to seven times the amount of UVB rays if you use a lesser SPF number. While that six percent difference doesn’t seem too drastic, it's the difference between the amount of rays that are getting through over time that can add up. To break it down even further, SPF 15 is said to block 93 percent of UVB rays whereas SPF 100 blocks around 99 percent. Play icon The triangle icon that indicates to play “For example, if you typically burn after 15 minutes of sun exposure, applying an SPF of 50 means that it will take 50 times longer for you to burn in the sun," explains dermatologist Orit Markowitz MD, the Director of Pigmented Lesions and Skin Cancer at Mount Sinai. SPF, short for sun protection factor, is a term that hit the skincare scene in the early 1960s as a way to measure a sunscreen’s effects against UVB light. Below, we’ve rounded up your most burning questions to help you understand what’s fact and what’s fiction about proper sunscreen practices and whether or not you should have SPF 100 in your beach bag: The SPF number indicates how long you can stay in the sun without getting burned. The reason? If you have a clear understanding of how sunscreen protects your skin, then you’ll have more success in keeping sun damage at bay. One of the most important thing to know before buying sunscreen is how the number rating system works. But a study done in 2018 and published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology found that "SPF 100+ sunscreen was significantly more effective in protecting against sunburn than SPF 50+ sunscreen in actual use conditions."Įven with this knowledge, it’s still a heated topic (no pun intended) among dermatologists. While you can’t fault them for practicing sun safety, it’s normal to wonder if wearing SPF 100 is really necessary - especially since it feels like every summer there’s conflicting advice on what level of SPF is sufficient enough. Instead, for safe, effective sunscreens, select any SPF 30 to 50 with 20 to 25 percent zinc oxide, says Dudley.Everyone has that friend who compulsively applies the highest SPF they can find on anytime they step outside. "The benefit is that it affords us about 1 percent more coverage from the UVB burning rays than an SPF of 50," says Ciraldo. Denis Dudley, co-founder of The Sunscreen Company. Products with SPF 100 have very high levels of active sunscreen ingredients, namely avobenzone-the only soluble UVA filter-and other soluble UVB filters categorized by the FDA as "not generally regarded as safe of effective," says Dr. And the greater the exposure to potentially harmful chemicals. Loretta Ciraldo, a board-certified dermatologist in Miami. Sunscreen with SPF above 60 have less UVA protection-the sun's rays responsible for skin aging, hyperpigmentation, and more aggressive skin cancers including melanomas, says Dr. "Regardless of whether you are using SPF 30 or SPF 100, you must reapply sunscreen every two hours." But the higher the SPF, the lower the UVA protection. Using a high SPF such as 100 can give you a false sense of protection, because people assume that SPF 100 allows them to stay in the sun for a longer period of time without reapplying, she explains. So, while higher is better in that sense, a higher SPF won't protect you for a longer amount of time, says Green. Anything over SPF 30 increases coverage from between 97 percent to 100 percent, she explains. Shari Sperling, a board-certified dermatologist in New Jersey. SPF 30 protects against 97 percent of the sun's rays, says Dr.
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