There is a common misconception with many people who feel that if they are not physically sunbathing they don’t need to wear SPF when in actual fact anywhere you are exposed to natural light you are exposed to the sun. Now many of you will say that I sit in an office all day with artificial light and in front of a pc to you I will say you are being exposed to blue light and has the same effects on the skin as the sun.
It is important to protect your skin against sun exposure and blue light. It creates so many free radicals which attacks the barrier function of the skin its dehydrating, causes premature ageing, hyperpigmentation and skin cancer. Skin cancer is in the top 5 most common types of cancer in South Africa. In saying this it would need to become your new normal applying SPF everyday all year long.
There are various sun protection products on the market with different factors the important thing to ensure is that it protects the skin against UVA, UVB and Blue light. UVA is known as your ageing ray and UVB your burning ray. You also get two types of spf’s a Physical SPF and a Chemical SPF.
Chemical SPF; Absorbs the uv rays and converts it into heat which is then expelled from the body.Physical SPF: Creates a barrier over the skin which repels the uv rays off the skin
Your spf factor indicates how much percentage of coverage it will give you. The difference between a spf 30 and a spf 100, your spf 30 allows 3% of UVB to hit the skin whereas spf 100 allows 2%.
I hope this sheds some light and allows you to make smart informed decision.