Protect: SPF

Greetings, my friends!

Bottom Line - use broadband sunscreen everyday (even on cloudy days), use at least SPF 30 (although I prefer SPF 50), and if you can, find a minimum PA+++ rated sunscreen.

Note Bene: I'd like to start by saying that to me the most important thing you can do for your skin and your body is to protect it from the sun. I'm going to go through a few terms you'll see when researching sunscreen (such as UVA, UVB, broadband, PA, sunscreen vs sunblock, etc), in order to help educate you on why certain qualities in sunscreens are so important. Also, the graphics I've used were not made by me - I found them on the internet - but they were really awesome and I wanted to use them to demonstrate the topics I'll discuss.

Sunblock vs Sunscreen: Wanna buy sunblock? You can't anymore. The term changed from when most of us were children from sunblock to sunscreen as people became confused by the name. People seemed to think that sunblock stopped all of the sun's rays, but that's not what it does. It actually only provides a resistance to the sun's rays - and even the best sunblock will let some photons through. So the product was changed from "sunblock" to "sunscreen."

Broadband All the Way: Which sunscreen should you buy? The first thing you should look for is whether the sunscreen is a broadband sunscreen or not. So what is broadband? Broadband sunscreens protect you against UVA and UVB. UVA or aging rays - are ultra violet rays (radiation) that permeates deep into your skin into your basal layer; these rays cause your skin to age prematurely and are what causes cancer. UVB or burning rays - are radiation rays that cause sunburns and changes the color of your skin. There are also UVC rays - but you don't really have to worry about them as they are burned up in the atmosphere and we aren't exposed to them as long as we have an ozone layer. So the reason you want to have a broadband sunscreen is so that you can protect yourself against both the aging and burning rays.

Chemical vs. Physical Sunscreens: Chemical sunscreens contain chemicals (shock!). Seriously though, chemical sunscreens contain ingredients like octinoxate, octylcrylen, avobenzone, oxybenzone, and octisalate to name a few, which change UV rays into heat through a chemical reaction, and the heat is then released from the skin protecting your skin from the sun's rays. Physical sunscreens contain minerals, usually titanium dioxide or zinc oxide, which rest on top of your skin to deflect UV rays. 

Which one should you choose? Both work very well, but differently - so ultimately it's up to you. Chemical sunscreens are easier to find, thinner (usually), offers options for broadband protection, and less is needed to protect you, but it can irritate your skin, takes 15-20 minutes to start protecting you once you apply it, may clog pores, and can darken hyperpigmentation due to the heat reaction it creates. Physical sunscreens last longer and work immediately, are naturally broadband protective, causes less irritation than chemical sunscreens, less likely to clog pores, and has a longer shelf life, but it tends to be thicker, often has a white cast, rubs off easily, can be chalky, doesn't work if you sweat or get wet, and you have to use more of the product than if you use a chemical sunscreen. 

Personally, I recommend you try both types to see which one you like most. I've used both. For everyday - I tend to use chemical sunscreens, but when I have an injury - such as a cut on my arm that developed hyperpigmentation when it healed - I tend to apply physical sunscreen to it to make sure it doesn't absorb any light and can heal faster.

SPF 15 vs SPF 30 vs SPF 50 vs SPF 100+: I know when people first start to get into sunscreen their pendulum swings from not wearing sunscreen everyday to wearing the highest SPF they can find. Slow your roll. The truth is that SPF15 isn't good enough to protect you from the harmful rays of sun, but it's better than nothing. SPF 30 is the ideal base sunscreen that you should be looking for, but SPF 50 is marginally better. Anything higher than SPF 50 is not scientifically proven to offer you any more protection than any lower SPF. It is actually argued that SPF 100+ is really just a marketing strategy to charge customers more money. I currently wear SPF 50, but I often try new sunscreens that are SPF 30-35.

What is PA++++ and Why You Should Care? This grading system is starting to appear more and more in the US sunscreen market. PA is a grading/rating system established in Japan, and is meant to inform users of the level of protection from UVA rays (remember - the aging rays.) PA which is an acronym for "Protection Grade" (in Japanese of course) was adapted from the Persistent Pigment Darkening (PPD) method - which tests products for their protection against UVA radiation.

In theory, a sunscreen with a PPD rating of 10 should allow an individual to handle 10 times as much UVA exposure. However, PPD values can’t be measured precisely; because there’s no standardized system for evaluating PPD score, various rating systems are used to signal a product’s UVA protection strength.

The PPD grading system is scored between 2-16+ which indicates the exact amount of UVA protection a product provides. Only Japan, the United States, Australia, Germany, and the United Kingdom test products for UVA (and not all company in these countries do this), which led to the following breakdown:

- PPD 2 to 4 is equal to PA+ which provides some UVA protection;

- PPD 4 to 8 is equal to PA++ which provides moderate UVA protection;
- PPD 8 to 16 is equal to PA+++ which provides high or the best UVA protection; and,
- PPD 16 or higher is equal to PA++++ which provides extremely high UVA protection. This is also the newest and rarest grade.

I recommend if you are going to search for a product with a PA rating, shoot for PA+++. You'll find a lot of quality products on the market with a PA+++ rating, but if you can - try to find a PA++++ sunscreen as it appears to be the best product to protect your skin from cancer and premature signs of aging.

Conclusion: Ultimately - it's your skin and your choice. But I can't recommend using sunscreen enough. I find it amazing when people ask me how to achieve my skin results, and when I tell them I follow a 10-step ritual - that doesn't dissuade them from copying me, but then when I tell them the most important step is sunscreen - they look at me like I have two-heads. "You use it everyday? Not just when you're going to the beach? Why?" The answer is that you are exposed to the sun 365 days a year when you drive to work, walk your dog, sit next to windows, plant plants, or in short - living your life. Protect yourself. If you're already someone that applies moisturizer every morning, then look for a moisturizer with SPF in it. Then find another SPF for your arms, chest, hands, feet, ankles - whatever you typically expose everyday. Your skin will thank you for it.

The last thing I wanted to add was this lovely graphic that help illuminate how to protect yourself from the sun. Typically - my local news won't tell me the UV rating during the winter and fall, but it's easy to look-up if you'd like. 

That's it! Let me know if you have any questions.

Cheers,
JessiPedia