The Importance of Suncream

June 14, 2019

The Importance of Suncream

The idea for this blog post came to me while I was on holiday last year; it has taken me an extremely long time to post this because I wanted to be as accurate as possible and the research was put on hold for a while. I'll admit, in the past I haven't been too good with applying suncream. However, in the past two years I have started to make sure I am looking after my skin; and part of that process is to apply sun cream (even when it isn't visibly sunny).

Suncream provides a layer to block and protect you form UV rays and this significantly reduces the chance of sunburn. Suncream also has the ability to help prevent wrinkles and malignant melanoma (a type of cancer); in fact, by applying suncream everyday, your risk of contracting skin cancer is cut in half.

What are the other reasons that suncream is so important?

Well, we need some sun exposure as it is beneficial for our health- as it helps our bodies produce vitamin D- but too much exposure to UV rays can cause skin damage, immune system suppression and skin cancer. Suncream provides a barrier that will absorb the harmful rays. Although is is important to limit how much time you spend in the sun and to reapply it throughout the day.

The sun doesn't disappear during the autumn and winter- just because you can't see it, doesn't mean it isn't there- and so you should be protecting your skin all year round. According to stylecraze.com (Nithya Shrikamt) you should be wearing suncream throughout the year because...

-It prevents ageing.

-It lowers skin cancer risks.

-It reduces blotchiness on your face.

-It prevents sunburn.

-And it enhances the health of your skin.

Suncreams are rated on a scale of 2 to 50+, and this is based on the level of protection that they provide your skin. 50+ offers the strongest form of UVB protection and 2 offers the lowest. When choosing a suncream for a holiday abroad or an extremely hot summer you should aim for one with an SPF of 30 or higher, however a suncream with an SPF of 15 is okay for those duller days.

While I was away I tried using a couple of different suncreams and I noticed that most of them have a star rating. I didn't know what this meant, so I decided to look it up. I found that Boots produced this system of rating sun creams in 1992. It is used to show the level of UVA protection, ranging from 0-5.

The star rating shows the percentage of UVA radiation that is absorbed by the sun cream. When purchasing a sun cream you should be looking for a star rating of 4/5 or 5/5 because they will defend your skin properly. All suncreams in the UK should have both the level of UVB and UVA protection on the bottle. Unfortunately not all suncreams (such as the brand pictured below) have the UVA rating, and so it is important to check the bottle or the website to make sure that the suncream that you are choosing tells you this.