Australia’s sun can be unforgiving. In fact, prolonged exposure can have damaging effects. That’s why we have such a stringent system when it comes to the quality of our sunscreens. In other words, the products you buy really must do what they say on the tube! But that’s good news for sun lovers because when you slip, slop and slap, you can rest assured that Australian sun protection creams are some of the best in the world.
Here are your tips when buying and applying your sunscreen.
Buying:
- Aim for broad spectrum protection, preferably SPF 50+
- A broad spectrum, higher SPF will give you better protection from ultraviolet radiation that causes skin cancer and premature ageing
- When applied correctly, SPF 50+ will filter out 98% of UV-B
Application:
- This may sound basic, but make sure you put enough sunscreen on!
- You’ll need one teaspoon each for your head / face / neck, each arm, leg, front and back of torso
- That’s roughly a shot glass full of sunscreen – which is about 35ml
- Apply sunscreen 20 minutes before you go out into the sun
- You should re-apply every two hours, or more frequently, especially if you’re swimming or sweating a lot
What is SPF?
We see these letters on sunscreen products everywhere. It’s an acronym that stands for Sun Protection Factor and it gives you an idea of how much protection you can expect from your sunscreen. That’s why it’s vital you understand what it means.
Essentially, the higher the SPF, the more protection you’ll benefit from. And yet, you shouldn’t take these numbers as an exact measurement of the time your sunscreen will ‘buy’ you in the sun. If you would normally start to burn (or turn pink) in 10 minutes with no sunscreen, an SPF of 30 will give you roughly 30x that ‘burn time’. That’s a total of 300 minutes in the sun until you start to turn pink.
In reality, you’ll know that, when you’re on the beach, or walking around on a hot, sunny day, five hours of burn-free time is unlikely. You’ll sweat, rub your skin and often not have enough sunscreen on in the first place.
So the best advice, regardless of how high your SPF is, remember to re-apply your sunscreen every two hours just to be sure.
For more tips visit here.
