There is so much confusion around which level of sunscreen to buy. Am I good to go with an SPF 15 or do I really need an SPF 50+? In case you don’t know…SPF is the acronym for ”Sun Protection Factor”. To break that down the SPF will tell you, based on the number, the amount of increased sun protection it provides. Still confused…read on.
First you have to determine how long it takes you to show signs of a sunburn. In my case its about 15 minutes. Here’s an example based on me:
Say I’m using a sunscreen with an SPF factor of 15. I first take my burn time of 15 minutes and multiply it by the SPF factor of 15 to get 225 minutes, which translates to 3 hours and 45 minutes. That means my Sunscreen with an SPF of 15 should protect me from getting a sunburn for 3 hours and 45 minutes.
Here’s the weird part. If it takes me 3 and 3/4 hours to get a sunburn with an SPF 15, there aren’t enough sunlight hours in the day (at least where I live) to warrant buying any sunscreen over at SPF 30. I would be wasting my money for anything that would protect me longer than 7 1/2 hours. Make sense? If I were to be wearing and SPF 50, I’d be protected for 12 1/2 hours. Maybe someone living in Alaska might need protection for that long…but bigger is not always better.
I know I’ve blogged about this before, but I just can’t help myself. SeneGence’s SeneSun is the best sun protection on the planet! You’ll love it because it has Aloe Vera, Orchid Flower Extract, Seaweed Extract and Vitamin B. Not to mention that it has anti-aging skincare built right in AND it will stay put and isn’t greasey…ever. It can be used as your moisturizer under your make-up and will not sting or burn your eyes. As the final brag…it received the “highest” rating of water resistant approval available through independent testing.
So the moral of this story is…buy only what you need. If you burn like a lobster…get a higher SPF. If you have dark olive skin…maybe you only need an SPF 10…or so. Why put unnecessary chemicals on your beautiful skin?
Follow Me!