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The Beauty Wonk

November 8, 2018

10 Sunscreen Facts You Need To Know!

Sunscreen is one of the important steps in your skincare routine, irrespective of your gender, age or skin colour. It protects your skin from the sun’s harmful UVA and UVB rays that can damage your skin and result in hyperpigmentation, acne, fine lines, wrinkles, and even skin cancer.

In this post, I’ll be talking about lesser-known sunscreen facts and busting some myths related to it. But firstly, how to include a sunscreen in your skincare routine?

Sunscreen, both physical and chemical, is the last step of your skincare routine. It should be applied generously and reapplied at least every 2-3 hours if you’re out in the sun all day.

Lesser-Known Sunscreen Facts

important sunscreen facts everyone needs to know about

1. Why Sunscreen Is Need?

80-90% of cases of premature skin ageing and skin cancer are caused due to unprotected exposure from UV rays. This is why it’s highly important that you don’t skip sunscreen!

You can increase the sun protection by combining sunscreen with other ways like avoiding the sun during the brightest time of the day (between 10:00 am – 4:00 pm), wearing protective clothing such as long-sleeved shirts and hats, and invest in sunglasses that block UV rays.

2. How much SPF do I need?

Anything between SPF 30-50 is enough to make sure you are getting optimum protection from UVB rays. You don’t need to go higher than that and definitely not lower.

Apart from SPF, you need to check whether your sunscreen provides broad-spectrum protection i.e, it saves from both UVA and UVB rays. Look for words like “PA factor” or “broad-spectrum” on the packaging.

What is PA rating? It’s is a Japanese standard that means Protection Grade of UVA rays which measures the SPF of a sunscreen.  Higher the plus ‘+’ signs, greater is the UVA protection. Sunscreens with PA+++ and PA++++ are highly recommended!

The Purito Centella Unscented Sunscreen is my all-time favorite and it has an SPF of 50 with PA++++.

However, American sunscreens won’t always come with the PA rating so you have to look for the term broad-spectrum protection. The only drawback is that you won’t be able to know how effective it is against all the UVA rays. This is not the case with PA rating!

While making a purchase, SPF factor and broad spectrum protection/ PA factor are the most important sunscreen facts you should keep in mind. If the brand doesn’t specify these, run away from them.

3. What Do I need protection from?

UVA rays contribute to ageing while UVB rays contribute to sun burn. Both are likely to cause skin cancer so you need to make sure your sunscreen provides protection against both.

UVA rays have the ability to pass through the glass so you need to apply sunscreen while you’re driving and standing or sitting in front of glass windows with the blinds open. UVB rays are associated with sunburns. Unlike UVA rays, UVB rays cannot pass through glass.

The easiest way to remember the difference between UVA and UVB is that A stands for ageing while B stands for burning.

4. different types of sunscreens

There are 2 types of sunscreen – Physical (also called Mineral/ Inorganic) and Chemical (Organic) Sunscreen. And they’re both equally good!

View this post on Instagram

If I had a dollar for everytime someone asked me which is better out of the two, I could renew my web hosting and buy a ringlight. (Blogger things) Anway, here's the difference between physical and chemical sunscreen. Use what works the best for you (unless it's a DIY sunscreen) because a good sunscreen is the best anti-ageing cream. ▫️ Most of the chemical sunscreens I had tried in the past caused a burning sensation especially around my eyes and mouth (*ahem* Neutrogena *ahem*) so I switched to physical ones. However, I recently tried the @purito_official Unscented sunscreen (chemical) and I am blown away because no irritation AT ALL. The point of all this is to tell you guys that there are chemical sunscreens in the market nowadays that might suit you, it's a matter of hit & trial. ▫️ Lastly, a big shoutout to @labmuffinbeautyscience for telling us that physical sunscreens don't scatter away all the rays. I legit didn't know that and it feels amazing to be a part of this community where you learn new things every day! ▫️ Feel free to share it with your friends ❤️

A post shared by Skincare Blogger (@thebeautywonk) on Oct 24, 2019 at 3:31am PDT

  • Physical sunscreens have mineral UV blockers like zinc oxide and titanium dioxide and it sits on top of the skin and deflects and scatter about 5-10% of the incoming UV rays. While the rest of it is converted into heat and released from the skin. These sunscreens tend to leave a white cast and aren’t cosmetically elegant.
  • Chemical sunscreens have organic UV filters such as Octinoxate, Octisalate, Oxybenzone, Avobenzone, Uvinul A, Uvinul T, etc that change the UV rays into heat and then release it from the skin.

    Many traditional chemical sunscreens don’t work well with sensitive skin which is the reason why people opt for mineral sunscreens. However, there are many brands with well-formulated chemical sunscreens that incorporate newer and more stable UV filters. These sunscreens work great with most sensitive skin types!
  • Hybrid Sunscreens use a combination of both chemical and physical UV filters. These are formulated in a way that they remove the drawback of the white cast by reducing the physical filters and balance it with chemical filters, without compromising with the UV protection that you receive from the final product.

Related: Qurez Mattifying Sunscreen SPF 50 Review

5. How much SUNSCREEN do I need to apply?

You need to apply 2 mg /cm² to get optimum sun protection. Always be generous with your sunscreen application!

To get the exact protection as claimed by your sunscreen’s label, you need to use enough of it. If you’re using a sunscreen with SPF 30 but take half or one-fourth of the amount you actually need, you might be getting SPF of 15 or 7.

An easy way to make sure you’re applying enough is to follow the Three Fingers Rule – two for face and one for the neck.

How to use sunscreen feat Purito Centella SPF
How much sunscreen should you use?

6. Is having SPF in makeup enough?

Makeup with SPF is generally not enough unless,

  • They have broad-spectrum protection
  • You go generous and apply the same amount as you’d do in sunscreen. And no one uses that much amount of foundation!

7. Applied SPF 15 over SPF 30. Does that equal to SPF 45?

Applying sunscreen and then using products that have SPF in it does give you better sun protection. But it doesn’t add up algebraically. SPF15 + SPF30 is never equal to SPF 45. It would give you the protection of SPF 30 only.

8. don’t neglect the eyes

Don’t forget to use sunscreen on the area around your eyes and lids as that’s where the signs of ageing start showing at its earliest. Also, unprotected sun exposure to UV rays would worsen your undereye circles.

9. Don’t forget your lips

Lips have no melanin, which makes them more susceptible to sun damage caused by UV exposure. With regular sun exposure, your lips get thinner. You can either get a lip balm that has SPF of 30 at least or apply your regular face SPF over the lips too. We constantly lick our lips and eat/drink which rubs off the sunscreen so be mindful of constant reapplication.

10. Is the Heat produced by Sunscreens harmful?

The amount of heat produced from the conversion of UV rays by a sunscreen is very small and does not have any wrong impact on your skin.

Bonus Fact: Always remember we need protection from UV rays and they’re present even during cloudy days and winters, even when the sun isn’t.

These are the few sunscreen facts you should know and follow religiously to protect your skin from skin cancer and keep it healthy sans discoloration, dull skin and sunburns.

By: Rifat Yaseen · In: Lifestyle, Skincare

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Comments

  1. Sarah says

    December 12, 2018 at 9:05 pm

    Thanks for the post! I am definitely guilty of skipping my SPF!

    Sarah
    http://sarahandsparkles.com

    Reply
    • Rifat Yaseen says

      December 15, 2018 at 11:55 am

      I used to do that too until a year ago. Wearing SPF has really improved my skin problems. 🙂

      Reply
  2. Justine Laismith says

    November 10, 2018 at 3:43 pm

    Very educational. I confess I too say I don’t need sunscreen because of my skin colour. I’ll have to change that mindset. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
    • Rifat Yaseen says

      December 15, 2018 at 7:21 pm

      Yay! Hope you’ve started taking SPF seriously. Being a brown skinned girl I used to have a similar mentality a few years ago. 🙂

      Reply
  3. Ananya says

    November 9, 2018 at 6:17 pm

    These post is helpful honey!

    Reply
    • Rifat Yaseen says

      December 15, 2018 at 7:20 pm

      Thanks so much!

      Reply
  4. The Newbury Girl says

    November 9, 2018 at 12:07 am

    This was so informative – thank you for sharing! I never really think about applying sunscreen to my under-eye area, but that definitely needs some help with anti-aging.

    Reply
    • Rifat Yaseen says

      December 15, 2018 at 7:19 pm

      Thank you! Rightly said, eyes show the signs of ageing the first but we still neglect it!

      Reply
  5. cozystylist1 says

    November 9, 2018 at 12:01 am

    I always use SPF makeup products and during the summer when I am tanning by the pool or at the beach I always use SPF 30 products.

    Reply
    • Rifat Yaseen says

      December 15, 2018 at 7:10 pm

      Glad to hear that! I’ve been religiously wearing SPF for a year now and it has definitely helped my skin a lot! Thanks for dropping by 🙂

      Reply
  6. lifestylebyamanda says

    November 8, 2018 at 9:38 pm

    This is a post I’ll come back to when I need a reference… Thanks a lot ?

    Reply
    • Rifat Yaseen says

      November 8, 2018 at 10:09 pm

      Thank you for such support hun ?

      Reply
      • lifestylebyamanda says

        November 8, 2018 at 10:09 pm

        ?

        Reply

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Hello, it's Rifat! Welcome to my beauty space where I talk about cruelty-free makeup, skincare & haircare. My hobbies include hoarding skincare in the name of research!

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thebeautywonk

Rifat 🇮🇳 Skincare Blogger
There's a sudden wave of science and ingredient-ba There's a sudden wave of science and ingredient-backed skincare which I appreciate very much. But lately, it has made things way more complicated than they should be. A good contribution has been made by tiktok in general in screwing people's mind with blanket statements.😭

So I wanted to cancel the noise and give you some simplified tips that you can go back to when shopping for a new sunscreen.

‼️Don't obsess over UV filters and their stability because there's no way you could know how the different ingredients work together in the product. That being said, due to the loose and non-existent regulations we have here, shop from brands you trust!‼️
I've used the @drsheths Neem & BHA serum like an I've used the @drsheths Neem & BHA serum  like an emergency treatment whenever I could feel my skin was congested and it always reduced it with 2-3 uses. (gifted)

I also use it on my shoulder and upper arms, and it is taking care of the clogged pores.

But the texture is just not good, it sits on your skin and makes it impossible for you to layer any other product over it. Even in the morning, when I wash my face I can actually feel the layer coming off.

Decent in terms of results but the texture is very difficult to work with. I don't like it sorry😭 

‼️So far, TO Salicylic Acid is my fav SA treatment, the texture is much better (can't believe I'd say this for TO, LOL) I'll try Paula's Choice BHA next, unless you have any other suggestion? 👀 Shoot in the comment section.‼️
It's been months since I first got my hands on the It's been months since I first got my hands on the COSRX Snail Mucin Essence and I haven't put it down even once. Quantity wise, I have almost half of it left which makes this product super cost-effective.

Today, I want you to tell me who influenced you into trying this cult favourite essence? Let me know in the comment section below.

I also did a full blog review on this - the right way to use it, how it helps your skin, what to expect from it and so on. The link🔗 is in my bio.
What triggered me to do this post? All these comme What triggered me to do this post? All these comments, reddit threads, tweets where people would ask for alternatives to, say, CeraVe cuz they have rosacea and that's the only thing that keeps their skin sane.

Or the ones where people would spend 6x the amount they'd have spent just because the brand isn't cruelty-free. As someone who has done all of it😂 I'd say don't obsess.

Find alternatives only when the experiments aren't going to screw your skin or making you go broke because the testing situation has gotten much better and there's a lot to celebrate🎉

PS: Keep supporting cruelty-free brands whenever you can, especially the ones who could enter the market, but chose not to.

PPS: Was supposed to do a 3-part series but wrapping it up in 2 because ✨ feed aesthetics ✨

Source to verify the laws - Humane Society International
When I started reading about animal testing of cos When I started reading about animal testing of cosmetics, I would only see a very one-sided approach from renowned CF bloggers. After a lot of research, I want to give a balanced view of both sides and discuss this topic in a structured manner. Today I will be just going through the basics of this 3-part series.

Leave your questions below, I'll try to address them either in the comments or in the next posts.

Few points to note:

✨China isn't the only country that tests on animals. However, it's one of the fastest growing economy and hence, a very profitable place for businesses to expand.

✨ There's another criteria followed by some people where they don't consider cruelty-free brands owned by non cruelty-free parent companies as CF. For eg: CF NYX owned by non-CF parent company L'Oréal. As I said, the term is unregulated so it's open to varied definitions. Personally, this doesn't bother me at all and I consider it a reach.

✨Animal testing is banned in India so the brands made and sold here are cruelty-free by default unless they're sold in countries that have compulsory testing.

I'll be going a little deep in tomorrow's post and talk about conflicting information, blanket statements, and why you shouldn't obsess over a brand's CF status, given the new laws.
I have been using the @sulwhasoo.india FCA serum f I have been using the @sulwhasoo.india FCA serum for more than a month now (both AM&PM) and now that the bottle is over, I think it's the right time to share my experience. (gifted)

✨I didn't expect much but it was pretty nice in adding hydration and plumpness to my skin.

✨I have talked about how my barrier was damaged bcz of weather changes and everything stung (on the worst days, even the cosrx snail mucin did a little - yep it was THAT bad), but FCA didn't. Not even once. Unbelievable! It had everything that could "potentially" make things worse! I know formulation is king but still, this is a bit too much. Weird.

I had a bad reaction on my cheeks on my birthday bcz I used my cousin's random blush she got from Amazon. My cheeks were red and had white bumps right after I took off my makeup. Cleansed. Applied FCA. Moisturiser. Woke up. All reduced. Used again. Next day, all gone.

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗙𝗖𝗔?
You apply it right after cleansing on damp skin to hydrate and soothe it, and to prepare your skin for the next steps.

𝗛𝗼𝘄'𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 & 𝘀𝗺𝗲𝗹𝗹?
The texture is very liquidy (has a dull orange colour) and the serum gets absorbed really fast. It has a very nice earthy smell and as I say, if you're adding fragrance, at least make it smell nice.

𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗶 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁: 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁?
I saw two red flags quite up in the list:
🚩 Alcohol (My skin in winters turn dry-combo from very oily and I didn't want to dry it further)

🚩 Fragrance (It usually triggers redness but very rarely, lets me walk away scot-free)

But I took the chance because I was really intrigued by their products and especially, the packaging 🙈 and things went well. Have you tried anything from the brand?
Not y'all in my DMs defending mineral sunscreens o Not y'all in my DMs defending mineral sunscreens over this story just like you defend your toxic exes.😂 Anyway, I had another post planned for today but chuck it. I'll tell you why I think using mineral sunscreens is equivalent to being in a toxic relationship.

Mineral/Physical/Inorganic sunscreens leave a white cast and/or pill really bad. You have to pat, wait for centuries for it to settle and brush off the crumbles from your brows and hairline. Re-applying is another trouble and I don't even want to get into it. Imagine doing all the work to still look like Casper the ghost👻 at the end of the day. (Especially when you're a POC)

How is it different than being in a toxic relationship where you're putting in so much work, it's mentally draining you and you still end up heartbroken?

If you find that a lot of Western sunscreens (*coughs* Neutrogena) sting or make eyes watery, try Korean sunscreens. (Or Japanese). If they're not easily accessible, considering most of my subscribers are Indian, try Re'equil or all the Indian pharma brands.

PS: Please use what works for you, it's between you and your brow hair. When you have certain skin conditions or when you're pregnant, mineral sunscreens are generally recommended so yeah ignore me I'm just being an 🍑.
𝗗𝗘𝗖𝗘𝗠𝗕𝗘𝗥 𝗘𝗠𝗣𝗧𝗜𝗘𝗦 - Happy 32nd Dec, 2020 (we're not moving to next year, I said what I said) This month, I mostly had haircare empties with one face product. Here are my thoughts on them:

✨@thebodyshopindia 𝗚𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗼 - If you have itchy scalp and mild seasonal dandruff, this works very well. On my oily scalp it was okay but I think it can be drying for others.

✨@theearthrhythm 𝗖𝗼𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘂𝘁 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗼 - My first time using a shampoo bar and the experience was perfect. Cut it in 4 parts and it lasted a very long time too. Always left my hair suuuper soft post shampoo.

✨@blenditrawbeauty 𝗛𝗲𝗺𝗽 𝗦𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗢𝗶𝗹 - I used it as a hair serum and it always left my strands soft and bouncy. I even skipped conditioner, just shampoo and move straight to this oil on damp hair. Don't sleep on hemp seed oil for your hair. (gifted)

✨@feelrawbotanicals 𝗣𝗛𝗔 𝗧𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗿 - It was a 2-in-1 product, mildly exfoliating and super hydrating. For face, 100% loved it but for body it's too mild, I need stronger acids cuz PHA doesn't cut it. Shelf life is short & quantity is large to be used just on face. I wish it came in 75ml or something bottle.

✨@wellaindia 𝗗𝗿𝘆 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗼 - I'm not an avid dry shampoo user but I like to have one just in case. This was super old and got the job done, provided you know how to use it. It also gave a very nice volume to my limp hair.
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