Sunscreen is the most essential shield from the sun's ultraviolet rays. These rays have many damaging consequences on the skin such as sunburn, aging, and skin cancer. The importance of protection gets along with the consideration choosing a suitable sunscreen for your skin. However, choosing what sunscreen to select when you go a store is difficult because of the variety of sunscreen products. Then you might end up mistakenly picking the sunscreen that has attractive appearance, or the one that smells good. It is absolutely not a smart decision for something that has a great influence on your skin and health. In order to avoid mistakenly purchasing, it is crucial to gain information about sunscreen, and know how to choose a sunscreen wisely.
Sun protection factor, also as known as SPF, is the most important element that you need to consider when choosing a sunscreen. According to popular belief, the higher the SPF level is, the more protection your skin will have. In contrast, the level does not represent how strong the SPF is. It reveals the time you will be protected under the sun. It is determined by the time your skin regularly burns multiplied by the SPF number. For instance, if your skin burns in 10 minutes after exposing to the sun without any protection, SPF 20 will keep you protected for 200 minutes. Another fact that you need to keep in mind is that SPF is not cumulative. That means if you apply one SPF 10 sunscreen, and another SPF 20 sunscreen, it will not add up to SPF 30. It may give you slightly better coverage though. Moreover, as stated earlier, the number is not proportional to the protection you get, so you should not have a preference for the higher SPF level. High SPF formulas not only lull you into a false sense of security in the sun, but also give a dose of chemicals on your skin. They are recommended only for beach and pool use, and not for daily activities. .
Having known about SPF is not enough to make a final decision.
