How to Protect your Skin from Sun - Part 1

Sun rays can cause many damages to our skin in many ways. It can cause sunburn, skin cancer and many more. That’s why it became important to apply extra protection on our skin to protect from sun rays.

Here comes best sunscreen gel or cosmetic with SPF. There are many ways to get sun protection get to know which one is best for you.

Why protect yourself from the sun at all

Solar radiation is the very first and foremost factor in aging and skin cancer.

The sun rays damage to the DNA of skin cells, and tanning is a defense against damage that prevents further damage to the cells. This damage can result in carcinoma and melanoma.

Even the lightest tan damage skin. Safe tanning is an oxymoron. Do not try to convince me, yourself, or anyone else that sun and light tanning are beneficial. If you like sunbathing, please sunbathe.

But there is no need to say that it is safe. Here I will also include highly frivolous opinions that the sun heals the skin and, in particular, acne. The sun helps the skin look better by darkening it, but ultimately it only aggravates skin problems.

You need to protect the skin of any color and any origin. If you have dark skin that hardly burns, this does not mean that you do not need protection.

It is essential to protect children, including babies, from the sun. Don't be fooled by stories that sunscreens are bad for children's skin. Their skin can be sensitive to certain filters, just like adults.

UVA vs. UVB

Solar radiation (UV radiation) is divided into UVA, UVB, and UVC. The latter remains in the atmosphere, while the first two reach our skin and damage it differently.

UVB rays have a 290-320 nm wavelength, and UVA rays have 320-400 nm.

Read to know: Why should you Wear Sunscreen GeL

UVA rays penetrate the skin deeper than UVB and play a critical role in skin aging. Sunburn also appears mainly due to these rays. They do not cause visible signs of damage.

That is, they do not produce burns. Damage from UVA radiation builds up over the years, and if you sunbathe well on vacation as a teenager, then after 30, you should not be surprised at age spots.

UVA radiation causes mutations in cells and also contributes to the development of skin cancer.

The intensity of UVA radiation practically does not change depending on the season, weather, and time of day (except at night, of course).

UVB rays do not penetrate deep into the skin and are trapped in the epidermis. And they are the ones that cause burns. They also play the most critical role in developing skin cancer and only partially provoke photo-aging and sunburn.

But they are responsible for the production of vitamin D. These rays do not penetrate glass and clouds, and their most excellent activity occurs in May-October from 10 am to 4 pm.

SPF factor in best sunscreen gel

The SPF number shows how effective a product is in protecting against UVB radiation. Not UVA or full spectrum. The higher the number, the more radiation it blocks. From this graph, you can see that between SPF 30 and 50, the difference is only a couple of percent.

But this is only if you apply them in a thick layer, and few people use them. And even in this case, a higher SPF sunscreen gel protects better. When applied in a thin (usual) layer, SPF 50 protects much better.

Skin that has no protection takes about 20 minutes to get sunburned. SPF 15 increases this time 15 times, that is, up to five hours. In other words, the factor needs to be multiplied by 20, and you get the time that you can safely be in the sun.

Because SPF is not an indicator of time, but of the amount of radiation that your skin with cream can withstand, compared to "bare" skin, different skin needs different amounts of radiation to burn. And the amount of radiation is highly dependent on the UV index on each specific day. In sunny, cloudless weather, much more radiation will fall on your skin per unit of time than in cloudy and cloudy ones.

UVA Protection

To understand whether your cream protects UVA, you need to look for specific markings.

In Derma Essentia best sunscreen gel, contain PA ++++ (a different number of pulses depending on the degree of protection)

The broad spectrum mark (means that the Sunscreen protects against UVA in the same way as against UVB)

The UVA icon in a circle (means that the degree of protection against UVA is at least 1/3 of the SPF indicated on the package).

How much Sunscreen to use

According to dermatologist, you need to apply 2 mg of the product per 1 cm2 of the skin. It is 1.25ml for the face only. This amount ensures that the protection is as indicated on the packaging.

The number was taken from experimental data. It is the amount at which any sunscreen works on any skin. How much it is by eye can be seen here.

A lotion of medium consistency is about half a teaspoon on the face and neck and a tablespoon on all other body parts. For the whole body with a minimum of clothing, you need about 30 ml of cream.

It would help if you had more liquid lotion and less dense thick cream. But the volume can vary depending on the density and texture of the product. And it also, of course, depends on the area of??the face.

You can try to calculate the location of??your face and calculate how much you need. I counted and found out that I needed 0.8 ml for my face. How to measure is written here. According to research, most people apply half or even a quarter of the amount they need.

Yes, when applied at 2mg / cm2, all sunscreens above SPF 30 will protect about the same. But few people use so much, and here sunscreens with a higher SPF (50-100) are better protected because a higher SPF, to some extent, can compensate for the disadvantages of application.

The question logically arises: why not make the best sunscreen gel that works when applied in a thin layer? Because the coating must be even, and it isn't easy to apply a thin layer evenly. Thick is much easier.

To make things easier for yourself, use this rule of thumb: Apply two regular coats of Sunscreen and be sure to wait to dry between applications.