SPF and Sunscreens…are you really protected?
I frequently get asked why we do not contain sunscreen in any of our products. My reason is because I have never been a fan of sunscreen. Sunscreen I believe gives you a false sense of security. Burning is our body’s defence mechanism for telling us to get out of the sun, and by applying sunscreen you are inhibiting this natural response from occurring. If you went on holidays and did not use sunscreen and got burnt you would not go out for a second and third dose of getting burnt would you? Instead we slather ourselves in sunscreen and continue to get repeated high doses of not 0nly UVA but also UVB. It is because of the UVA exposure that I am not a fan of sunscreen use.
I have found that sunscreen use often results in an acne breakout for those of us with an oilier skin and finding one that does cause acne is in itself a miracle. Any sunscreen that contains Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide needs an emulsifier to blend the powders into a uniform and even texture. These emulsifiers are the contributors to acne formation. Natural companies use such ingredients as almond oil and coconut oil to help emulsify the Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide. These oils are not a good choice for acne sufferers.
Sunscreens give us a false sense of security and could be making you more prone to skin cancer, if you are not aware of exactly how they work. The majority of sunscreens do not apply uniformly and evenly on the skin, subsequently you will have patches of skin that have no sunprotection at all.
The majority of people are confused on how sunscreens work and how much you need to apply to get the stated SPF that is listed on the sunscreen bottle.
When SPF testing is being performed on a sunscreen it is based on a certain amount of sunscreen being used. It is only if the correct quantity of sunscreen is applied that you will get the SPF stated on the packaging. You need to put 35mls on your entire body to get the SPF that is listed on the bottle. The body is approximately divided into 12 areas, and the face and neck are one of these areas. You need to apply 2.7mls of sunscreen to your face and neck to get the SPF that is listed on your moisturiser. If you were using the correct quantity of moisturiser with SPF in it then you would go finish a 50ml bottle of moisturiser in approximately 20 days, and that assumes you only use the cream once a day. The majority of consumers however use nowhere near this amount. Most consumers will find that their average moisturiser lasts them 3-4 months. This means that they are only putting on 1/4 of the required amount of sunscreen that needs to be applied to get the SPF coverage that is listed.
So does that mean that is you have SPF 30 and you apply 1/4 the amount you need you get an SPF of 7?
The answer to this questions is No, because the way sunscreens are rated it is not that simple. A sunscreen with a SPF 15 blocks out 94% of UVB, where as a sunscreen with a SPF 30 only blocks out 97% of UVB. That is only 3% more! So don’t get fooled by sunscreens now trying to sell you more safety with SPF ratings of 50 and as high as 100. In Australia the limit for advertised SPF’s has been limited to an SPF of 30, even though many sunscreen contain a higher rating when tested.
The other thing to be aware of is that chemical sunscreens such as octyl methoxycinnamate and oxybenzone need to be absorbed into the layers of the skin to work. They do not work for 15 minutes after you apply them. So if you go into the sun prior to applying you have already started your burning process for the day, and putting on sunscreen later will not stop you from burning.
So if it takes you 10 minutes to burn and you apply the correct amount of a SPF 30 sunscreen then you will have 300 minutes of protection, or 5 hours. This assumes you applied the sunscreen 15 minutes prior to any sun exposure (which means before you take on step outside of your house), and that you also reapplied the sunscreen every 2 hours to makeup for sweating or water exposure. Once you have had your 300 minutes you can reapply sunscreen as much as you want and it will make absolutely no difference…..YOU WILL BURN. You have now reached your threshold for the day. Regardless of whether you put sunscreen on or not you will now burn because your skin has been exposed to its maximum amount of sun exposure that it can tolerate.
Europe has a UVA and UVB rating system. Unfortunately in Australia we can not determine how much UVA protection we are getting. In Australia all sunscreens must be broad spectrum.
So what does this mean?
It means that they must block out 90% of UVA. In Europe there is a rating system for UVA and UVB. This allows consumers to have educated purchasing power. The system used in Europe is called the PPD system. This rates the UVA coverage which the sunscreen will provide.
So if in Australia 90% of UVA is blocked out, then that means that 10% UVA is getting to your skin. Based on the PPD system this equates to only 80 minutes of UVA protection. So after 80 minutes of sun exposure you are in fact promoting melanoma, skin cancer and wrinkles. How many of you are aware of this?
At Eclogite our philosophy is that we use ingredients in our products that help minimise UV damage. Green Tea has photoprotective properties and has been shown to reduce burning from the sun. The Vitamin C (Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate) that we use also minimises damage from sun exposure. We advocate using Mineral makeup which when applied will give you a good SPF of 20. Our other philosophy is that you should just stay out of the sun and wear a hat.
If you are prone to skin cancer and need to use sunscreen then you need to apply the correct quantity
37 Responses to “SPF and Sunscreens…are you really protected?”
[...] More: Eclogite Skin Care » SPF and Sunscreens…are you really protected? [...]
[...] Eclogite Skin Care » SPF as well as Sunscreens…are we unequivocally protected? [...]
There is no unequivocal protection from the sun, this includes use of sunscreen. Even if you apply sunscreen it does not disperse uniformly on the skin and you will have patches of skin that are left unprotected. We need to avoid excessive sun exposure.
There is no such thing as total protection. If people think there is they are misleading themselves. No sunscreen offers total protection. Therefore the more sun exposure you get the higher the risk of cancer.
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