With millions of Brits currently soaking up the sun, Cult Beauty has partnered with Dr Deborah Lee from Dr Fox Online Pharmacy to help people stay protected with proper sunscreen use and avoid the dangers of expired SPF.
Does sunscreen go off?
Yes, it absolutely can according to Dr Deborah Lee. Like all skincare, SPF has a shelf life. Most sunscreens now come with an expiration date, usually found on the top or bottom of the packaging. If yours doesn’t, it’s worth writing the date you opened it directly on the bottle.
Once opened, sunscreen typically lasts for about 12 months but if it’s been exposed to heat, humidity, or looks/smells different, it’s safest to throw it away.
Expired SPF loses its effectiveness and could even contain bacteria or mould that may irritate your skin.
How much sunscreen should you actually use?
To get full body protection, you should apply around two teaspoons for each area your covering. Put simply that is:
- Face and neck – two teaspoons
- Arms – two teaspoons, one teaspoon for each arm
- Legs – two teaspoons, one teaspoon for each leg
- Chest and stomach – two teaspoons
- Back and shoulders – two teaspoons
If applied properly your sunscreen should run out well before it expires – but if your bottle’s been sitting around since last summer, it’s likely time to replace it.
Here’s the right way to apply sunscreen
The application of SPF should be a non-negotiable step in your skincare regime everyday.
However, there are many uncertainties when it comes to how to apply SPF the right way, by following these simple tips you won’t go wrong:
- Before you do anything, shake your sunscreen bottle. This will help break up any clumping that occurs over time.
- Use the three-finger rule when applying it to the face. Gently tap the formula all over your face, ears, and neck rather than just rubbing it all on to avoid irritation and to ensure a smoother application.
- When applying to your body, smear small evenly sized dots over all areas exposed to the sun. Gently massage the sunscreen in, until you can’t see it anymore. Remember not to forget those sneaky spots that are easy to miss like the neck and the back of your hands and feet.
- If you are heading out to have fun in the sun, allow the formula to soak into your skin for at least 15 minutes before heading outdoors.
Top tips on how to stay safe in the sun
Dr Deborah Lee, Dr Fox Online Pharmacy shares her top tips for staying safe in the sun:
1. Respect the sun
You only need 15 minutes of sunlight a day to make vitamin D and for darker skin this can increased to 30 minutes. But after this, the sun is not giving you any health benefits. If you overdo your time in the sun, you are likely to end up with sunburn and heat exhaustion/heat stroke. All of these are serious conditions – and heat stroke can be fatal.
Respect the sun by keeping out of direct sunlight between 11am and 3pm in the summer. Sit in the shade, under a parasol, or stay indoors.
2. Use sunscreen wisely
Use suncream with a minimum SPF factor 30 (anti-UVB protection) and a UVA star rating of 4-5 stars (for anti-UVA protection). If you have fair skin or burn easily you should use suncream with an SPF 50 factor. For swimming, choose a water-resistant option.
Sun cream us a much better option than tanning oil which concentrates UV rays and increases the rish of sunburn and damaged (ageing) skin. Getting sunburnt once every 2 years triples your risk of being diagnosed with skin cancer, melanoma, as compared to someone who has not been burnt.
3. Keep cool
Do all you can to keep cool, sit in the shade, wear loose and light-coloured clothes and cover your legs and arms, wear a wide-brimmed hat, tie your hair up, drink plenty of cool drinks, sprinkle yourself with cold water regularly, and put a cold compress on your forehead, make cool baths and showers. If it’s too hot, go inside away from the sun and lie down in a cool place.
4. Drink more water
When the sun is out, we should all be drinking at least 3 litres of water per day. Avoid fizzy or sugary drinks in hot sunshine. The sun causes plastics to break down in plastic bottles and chemicals can leach into the drinks. Plus, sugary drinks can worsen dehydration.
Look out for symptoms and signs of dehydration, these include feeling thirsty, a dry mouth, sunken eyes, not peeing often, headaches and feeling unwell. But it’s too late by the time these symptoms have occurred – you need to drink plenty to avoid these symptoms from coming on.
5. Protect your eyes
If you wear a hat with a wide brim or a baseball cap this will shield your eyes from 50% of the sun rays. If you wear glasses, these should have a glass with a UV filter. Sunglasses block UV rays from entering the eyes, but make sure these have a CE mark to show they meet European standards.
For all your SPF staples shop here: https://www.cultbeauty.co.uk/spf-tanning.list
