Sunscreen is inarguably a Holy Grail product for your summer skincare. Even though you need it all year long, it becomes even more important during summer, thanks to harsh sun rays and long hot days! Before the summer days get any hotter and the temperature gets any harsher, we thought it our beauty duty to bring you some facts about sunscreens and debunk some myths about it too.
Read on as we bust some most common myths about sunscreen and the truth behind it...
- Sunscreen prevents you from getting Vitamin D
- People with deep skin tones do not need sunscreen
- You don’t need sunscreen indoors
- One application of sunscreen is enough for the day
- Layering several products with SPF means better sun protection
Sunscreen prevents you from getting Vitamin D
Skin gets Vitamin D from the UVB rays which sunscreen block to avoid sunburns. However, sunscreens don’t block 100 percent of UV rays. An SPF 15 filters 93 percent of UVB rays, SPF 30 prevents 97 percent and SPF 50 prevents 98 percent which means your skin does absorb Vitamin D without getting sunburn. 15-20 minutes in sun are enough to absorb proper Vitamin D for your body.
People with deep skin tones do not need sunscreen
While pale skin tone need it more than the warmer ones, not using a sunscreen is not an option for deep skin tones. High melanin in deep skin diffuse UVB rays and not UVA rays and thus provide protection from sunburn to some extent but it cannot protect skin from extreme sun exposures, skin cancer or ageing signs.
You don’t need sunscreen indoors
A very common yet false believe is that you only need to apply sunscreen when you’re outdoors. However dermats would say otherwise. It’s important to use a full spectrum sunscreen as windows and fine curtains can let UV rays in. Also, florescent light in your room are also a source of UV radiations. Swear by Lakmé Sun Expert Ultra Matte SPF 50 PA+++ Lotion even indoors.
One application of sunscreen is enough for the day
Sunscreen needs to be applied every 3-4 hours for better protection. Sweat, dirt and oil on skin wear you sunscreen off. To avoid this, apply once 15 minutes before leaving the house and carry a sunscreen with you and reapply it every couple of hours.
Layering several products with SPF means better sun protection
A higher SPF blocks higher percentage of UVB rays. Wearing three products with SPF 15 each won’t add up to provide sun protection of SPF 45. It will only block 93 percent of UV rays as opposed to 98 percent in case of one product infused with SPF 50.
Written by Anjali Agarwal on Apr 05, 2019
Author at BeBeautiful.