Are sunscreens overhyped??

Let me start by telling about my own personal account. I had never used sunscreens till my late 20’s and frankly speaking, I am still very inconsistent while using them. I guess the whole process of reapplying it daily is a little cumbersome. And not to forget the stickiness.

But the real question is “Are they worth it”?

Absolutely yes!!

During our younger years, we fail to realise the sun damage our skin endures. But slowly as other factors like ageing, stress, hormonal changes specially during pregnancy, unhealthy lifestyle and diet adds on, the resultant damage is huge.

Although we Indians are naturally blessed with some amount of sun protection due to high melanin content in our skin( resulting in darker skin tones), still our skin does need added sun protection.

During my late twenties, I noticed that my skin started showing early signs of sun damage. I started having broken capillaries( seen as small red lines), freckles,brownish-black spots, pigmentation, fine lines specially around my eyes and overall dull looking skin.These were like the little clues my skin was sending out to seek help.

That’s when I realised the importance of including a sunscreen in my daily routine.

Now came the question “Which one”?

There is this whole array of different sunscreens in the market and it’s difficult to choose the right one.

There are few important points that you should be looking out in an ideal sunscreen as illustrated below.

1. SPF - stands for sun protection factor. Ideally, a sunscreen having SPF of 30-35 is good enough for Indian skin tone.

2. UVA protection - it is important to look out whether your sunscreen has UVA protection or not since the harmful sun rays include both UVA and UVB radiation.

3. Water resistance - we don’t want our sunscreen smudging while we sweat. Therefore, an ideal sunscreen should be water resistant.

4. Boot star rating - it describes the ratio of UVA to UVB protection. A boot star rating of 4 or more is ideal.

5. Non- comedogenic - we do not want to get pimples after sunscreen application. Hence, always choose a non- comedogenic sunscreen.

6. Non greasy - one of the major deterrents while regularly using sunscreen is stickiness. It makes us feel uncomfortable throughout the day and makes our face look oily. Therefore, always go for matte finish or non greasy sunscreens.

The whole concept of applying a sunscreen is to protect your skin against sun damage. Therefore, it is important to reapply it every 3 hours since the effect wears off in around 2-3 hours. Always apply it 20 mins before sun exposure since it takes that much time to effectively form a protective layer between your skin and the sun.

There are many good sunscreens available in the market at present. I will quote a few effective and economical options here.

*I have used all three personally and would definitely recommend them. Out of these, Episoft AC is my favourite simply because it’s completely non greasy and does not require an additional moisturiser to be put on top of it.

So grab your sunscreen because you might not notice the damages today but your skin needs that protection from the harsh sun. I know all of us want to look like Jennifer Lopez in our 40’s and 50’s ( that woman is literally not ageing). And do you know her “Holy Grail” product. Yups, it’s her sunscreen!!