Love beach umbrellas? Be sure to also do this

When it comes to sun safety, sunscreen beats shade, say scientists in JAMA Dermatology. They found that people who applied SPF 100 sunscreen 2 to 3 times over the course of 4 hours in the sun were 71 percent less likely to burn than those who used a beach umbrella. “Like sunscreen, umbrellas block direct UV rays, but they don’t block diffuse rays, like UV light bouncing off sand,” says study author Hao Ou-Yang, Ph.D. He advises applying broad-spectrum sunscreen (SPF 50 or higher) every 2 to 3 hours and wearing a hat and sunglasses.