He sighed in a way that meant, 鈥淢ust I?鈥� Nature Boy doesn鈥檛 like wearing sunscreen.
鈥淚t鈥檚 oily,鈥� he says.
鈥淚t feels like pancake makeup.鈥�
鈥淚t makes me itch/ makes me break out/ gives me a rash/ runs into my eyes/ tastes bad.鈥�
鈥淭astes bad? Tell me you鈥檙e not eating it.鈥�
He gives me The Look.
Oh, he knows he needs to wear it. He just doesn鈥檛 like wearing it. He protests and complains, then smears it on.
With skin cancer on the rise globally and sa国际传媒 among the 20 countries most at risk for residents getting skin cancer, diligent daily sunscreen application is advised for anyone spending more than a few minutes in the sun.
With sunlight, comes ultraviolet A and B radiation. Research has repeatedly shown both can lead to skin cancer.
Sunscreen helps filter those damaging rays. Sun protection factor, or SPF, indicates the level of protection the product is supposed to provide. Higher SPF means more protection. It does not mean longer-lasting protection. If you鈥檙e outside all day, you need to re-apply sunscreen every couple of hours.
Dermatologists consider SPF 30 to be the minimum protection against sunburn. However, there鈥檚 little evidence SPF levels over 30 increase protection against DNA damage, the precursor to skin cancer.
Not that Nature Boy doesn鈥檛 have a point with his concerns. It can take time and a fair investment to find the sunscreen that ticks all your boxes 鈥� one that doesn鈥檛 leave oily pools on the skin, doesn鈥檛 feel like lacquer, doesn鈥檛 irritate the skin鈥�.
I鈥檓 trying out six varieties. The manufacturer of the product I鈥檇 used for years changed its formula a couple of years ago, and I鈥檓 still hunting for a replacement that I can stand wearing all day. Experience has shown the products I can tolerate are rarely the ones that work on Nature Boy鈥檚 delicate dermis.
Oh, it needs to work, too. Not all sunscreens are created equal.
Chemical sunscreens are effective, but their active ingredients can trigger rashes or other skin reactions. A recent study shows that they can also enter the bloodstream through the skin at levels above the thresholds set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to avoid toxicology tests. It鈥檚 not yet clear what those bloodstream levels mean for health.
Mineral-based sunscreens cause less irritation but can feel cakey and mask-like. And many people are afraid of the newer mineral sunscreens that contain nanoparticles of light-scattering zinc oxide or titanium oxide. The fear is that the body also absorbs these tiny particles through the skin into the bloodstream. Effects are unknown, but people assume it can鈥檛 be good.
According to the best evidence available right now, titanium dioxide and zinc oxide nanoparticles remain on the skin鈥檚 surface and in the outer skin layer composed of dead cells. No evidence exists showing the particles are absorbed into the deeper, living skin layers or bloodstream. But the researchers do say we should avoid eating the stuff. (Note to Nature Boy鈥�)
More to the point, however, researchers have found that few mineral sunscreens are as effective as their reported SPF levels. That is compounded by the fact that few of us slather on a thick enough layer at any one time to get the product鈥檚 actual 鈥� let alone lower-than-advertised 鈥� SPF protection.
And, as with all sunscreens, we don鈥檛 re-apply it as often as we should 鈥� after swimming, towelling off or sweating heavily 鈥� or, in Nature Boy鈥檚 case, 鈥済lowing radiantly鈥� 鈥� or every two hours in the sun, whichever comes first. And we miss spots, around the eyes, on and behind the ears and back of the neck are commonly neglected areas.
However, the advantage of the mineral-nanoparticle suncreens, dermatologists say, is they scatter light more finely and effectively than regular-sized particles and don鈥檛 irritate the skin as some chemical screens do. Sunscreens with the nanoparticles also feel lighter on the skin and are transparent. They don鈥檛 create that ghostly white or zombie look.
And that, dermatologists say, means more people are likely to use it.
In the end, the best sunscreen is the one that鈥檚 used regularly 鈥� and applied generously, thoroughly and frequently.
But not eaten.
