SUN’S OUT!

How do you enjoy the summer rays when they’re your skin’s biggest threat? The latest and greatest sunscreens might just do the trick.

How do you enjoy the summer rays when they’re your skin’s biggest threat? The latest and greatest sunscreens might just do the trick.

Over the last two decades, doctors, scientists, and researchers have warned us about the harmful effects of both UVA and UVB light, reinforced with data that shows melanoma rates in the US have doubled from 1982 to 2011. What’s more, recent studies, including one from Toxicology and Industrial

Health, have shown that common environmental pollutants such as chemicals released from burning coals and gasoline significantly increase the skin’s photodamage when coupled with UVA rays.

So it’s little wonder consumers are gravitating towards products that offer a higher sun protection factor (or SPF). According to retail analyst Karen Grant of the NPD Group, the sales of skincare products with SPF 50 have quadrupled since 2013. The market for color cosmetics has taken off, too, with sales of SPF 50 foundations growing from $1.6 million to $21 million in just three years. “The consumer is very much aware of the need to have even higher levels of SPF,” says Grant. “You don’t see things quadruple or grow 20-fold unless people are thinking, Wow, we really need this.”

While cosmetics make for convenient sun protection, Francesca Fusco, an assistant clinical professor of dermatology at New York City’s Mount Sinai School of Medicine, cautions that SPF makeup shouldn’t necessarily replace sunscreen. In fact, when examining patients under a Wood’s lamp, which reveals some types of sunscreen on the surface of the skin, Fusco found that makeup with SPF may not always evenly protect the face. Instead, she recommends applying at least an SPF 30 sunscreen five minutes prior to your makeup to ensure ample protection.

The SPF number, however, is not the only factor to keep in mind. “It’s about the correct application and the reapplication, depending on where you are,” Fusco says. For days spent outdoors, she suggests applying protection generously, all over, every two hours. But don’t neglect your skin on workdays, even if your time in the light is minimal. Says Fusco, “People don’t realize that the incidental sun exposure they get every day adds up and contributes to their risk for skin cancer and sun damage.”