Which SPF is right for me?
For decades, I have been a very vocal critic of the sunscreen industry and their escalating SPF numbers. SPF 100’s and SPF 75’s border on the ludicrous and it would be laughable if it weren’t seriously and adversely affecting people who want to go in the sun.
First, let’s look at what SPF really means. The factor is a number to be used as a tool to determine how long you can safely stay in the sun. Basically, if your time to redden in the sun without sunscreens is 10 minutes, then an SPF 15 theoretically would allow you to stay out for 150 minutes.
Good intentions but terrible execution. Some factors that expose the flaws in SPF ratings:
- Who really knows their “time to redden?”
- The tests are done in laboratories under stable conditions
- You have to take in account how intense the sun is
- You have to take in account whether it is a cloudy or sunny day
- You have to take in account where you are geographically
- What about a dip in the water or toweling off afterwards
The ludicrous part is this … if you redden in 10 minutes then most people will assume using an SPF 100 should give them 1000 minutes of safely being in the sun. Really? That’s 17 hours. The tragedy with the super high suncreens is that people think they are providing more protection than it really does.
Almost 40 years ago, I devised a system called the 3-P’s, Protect, Promote, Prolong. It is still the best way to determine what products you need.
Protectors: certain areas of your body are sun sensitive…. Shoulders, face (and ears), back of the knees, breastbone area for women. These need Maximum Protection which can be achieved through Absolutely Natural’s SPF 30 or SPF 15.
Promote: The rest of the body needs Maximum to Moderate protection and the best choi9ces would be an SPF 15 or SPF 8.
Prolong: what you do after sun exposure is as important as what you do during the day. Even if you don’t get a sunburn, you have done damage to the skin. Using both our Pure Aloe and then Rosehip Aloe will heal the skin, hydrate it and condition it to get ready for more sun.
Best regards
Charley
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