Sunscreen is often considered as a summer skincare product or the one which is needed when we step out of the house. But the reality is SPF is mandatory everyday especially in your AM skincare routine. UV radiation tends to affect the skin even when you do not feel the heat or sunburn in between the day.
And in such cases, repeated exposure tends to contribute to premature skin aging, pigmentation, and even at times increases the risk of skin cancer. This is why SPF sunscreen is important to include in your everyday skincare routine; their main role is to protect skin from the UV radiation.
What Sunscreen Does to Skin?
They play a key role in protecting skin from the rays emitted by the sun. Using SPF in everyday routine helps in protecting skin from two different radiation, namely UVA and UVB.
UVA
Their rays tend to penetrate deeper into the skin and are often associated with photo-ageing and skin pigmentation. They will contribute to the breakdown of skin collagen and elastin over time.
UVA rays often pass through window glass for a certain extent, which is why indoor application of SPF sunscreen is important too!
UVB
UVB rays have more energy, which is why they cause sunburn. It contributes to the DNA damage, and which obviously results in the development of skin cancer.
Why Is Sunscreen Important on a Daily Basis?
For UV rays to enter into the skin, you need not take a sunbath. Everyday activities like walking outside, travelling for work, sitting outdoors, driving, exercising outside, or even if you are sitting near windows can contribute to overall UV exposure.
One day of continuous exposure will not necessarily transform your skin. But when the same happens over months and years, it will transform your skin in a negative aspect!
1. Sunscreen Helps Prevent Sunburn
Sunburn is one of the most obvious effects especially due to excessive UV exposure. The continuous exposure might damage the skin cells and trigger inflammation which makes skin red, hot, swollen, and even painful.
In such cases when SPF sunscreen is used consistently they will help in avoiding the intense exposure which obviously reduces the UV radiation reaching your skin.
2. It Helps Reduce Premature Skin Ageing
When you are often concerned about skin concerns like fine lines, uneven texture, etc using SPF is one of the most preventive steps. As the repeated UV exposure contributes to skin aging and obviously leads to photoageing.
Frequent UV radiation can contribute to changes involving loss of collagen skin elasticity fine lines and even increase pigmentation and fine lines over a period of time. This is why someone who protects their skin from the sun may experience less visible photoageing.
3. Sunscreen Prevents Skin Pigmentation From Being Worse
This is relevant when you are dealing with dark spots, melasma, uneven skin tone, and even sun spots. For example, if you are using a serum or cream to fade a dark pimple mark, yet not protecting skin from sun rays is a simple waste of product and time.
4. It Is Important When You Have Acne
Using sunscreen cannot treat your acne directly, but it plays a role in people dealing with acne based skin. Inflammatory pimples tend to leave behind the pigmentation, which is particularly for deeper skin tone.
UV exposure can make these marks more noticeable.If you're using acne treatments like salicylic acid, retinols, benzoyl peroxide, etc skin becomes more sensitive depending ni the product usage. So, incorporating a proper SPF sunscreen helps in protecting skin while managing the acne.
5. Sunscreen Helps Protect Against Skin Cancer
One of the major reasons why dermatologists prefer sunscreen. UV radiation can damage DNA in skin cells which obviously contributes to skin cancer, which includes both melanoma and non-melanoma.
What Does SPF Mean?
SPF - Sun Protection Factor, indicates the level of protection in SPF against the UVB induces sunburn, especially under testing conditions. For example, SPF 30 sunscreen is only the measure of protection and not the duration.
SPF 30 vs 50
Both can provide UVB protection when used properly. Though SPF 50 provides a higher level of protection than SPF 30, the application matters the most than just the number.
What is Broad-Spectrum?
When you want an SPF sunscreen for everyday usage, then go with broad-spectrum protection. These broad-spectrum sunscreens protect skin from both UVA and UVB radiation.
Don't choose a sunscreen based solely on the SPF number. Looking at the overall protection claim on the product.
How Much Sunscreen Should You Apply?
There is a lot of study and claims that this much quantity (a spoon or three finger) to be used. But the only thing to cross check is never under-apply. Always know that face and neck require more than just focussing on one!
Some of the areas which are commonly neglected include ears, neck, hairline, forehead, and neck. And, for the body, a much larger amount is needed.
The sunscreen's labelled SPF is determined using a standard application amount. Applying considerably less can result in substantially lower protection.
Also UV radiation can still reach your skin when the sky is cloudy or when you are inside the home without direct UV rays. Clouds can reduce some UV radiation, while they can penetrate into the windows too, without any kind of block.
Is Sunscreen Reapplication Mandatory?
Offcourse, especially when you are planning to spend the entire day outdoors. Ensure to reapply especially after:
If you're outdoors for several hours, however, a single morning application shouldn't be treated as unlimited protection.
Common Sunscreen Mistakes
Even people who use sunscreen regularly can make simple mistakes:
1. Using very little product will not give protection at any cost.
2. Ignoring areas like under eye, ears, or neck will cause visible pigmentation after a time period.
3. Using SPF sunscreen only when it's sunny or when you are stepping out into the sun.
4. Not Reapplying even if you are outdoors for longer time period
Conclusion
So, why is sunscreen important? It is because using them helps skin from various concerns like pigmentation, tan, spots, and at the worst case, even skin cancer too!
Using SPF regularly helps skin in many ways, and it does not make you complicated in any means! Choose a broad-spectrum sunscreen, apply enough, use it consistently, and reapply when you're spending extended periods outdoors.
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