SPF Choices

SPF Choices – What are SPF’s and Which should you use?

In this blog I’m going to look at the development of the modern-day SPF, why using a daily SPF is so crucial to healthy skin and share a few of my favourite products with you.

I’m indebted to the work of the following true experts in this field.

Dr Mindy Goldstein of AlumierMD

Dr Des Fernandes of Environ

Dr Danne Montegue King of DMK

Dr Michelle Wong of The Lab Muffin Beauty Science

SPF A Little bit of history

Gone are the days of using cooking oil and basting yourself under the sun – I hope. Remember those coconut oils and other lovely smelling unguents aimed at getting that brown, tan colour on our skins. Oh, the damage that has been done. But there is a long history of humans and sun protection.

I found a lovely article about the origins of the modern sunscreen by a Swiss chemist and mountaineer, but also how Egyptian and Aboriginal people protected themselves from sun damage. You can read this article on the history of SPFs here.

Humans have been aware of the sun’s negative effects then for a long time. But fashion and culture have also played their part. In Victorian times a pale skin was seen as the sign of a lady i.e. a wealthy person who didn’t labour outside.

Japan is another culture that prefers pale skin – so loose clothing, parasols and hats are part of their accepted fashion for protecting the skin and keeping cooler.

In modern Western culture ‘The Tan’ became the desire of many, considered healthy and more attractive than pale skin. There was little understanding in the public arena about how the skin worked, who would and would not tan, leading to sunburn and an ever-increasing rise in skin cancer.

This is the situation with the incidents of skin cancer in the UK;

• Around 15,400 people are diagnosed with melanoma in the UK each year.
• The incidence of malignant melanoma in Britain has risen faster than any other common cancer. Over the last decade, the number of people diagnosed with melanoma in the UK has increased by almost half.
• Melanoma is the 5th most common cancer in the UK.
• 51% of melanoma skin cancer cases in the UK are in males (2% of all male cancer deaths), and 49% are in females (1% of all female cancer deaths).
• Skin cancer becomes more common with age.
• Rates of malignant melanoma are increasing rapidly. Since 1997, there has been an increase of: 155% for over 55s and 63% for under 55s

They go onto point out that the risk factors are;

• Significant sun exposure in childhood is the single most important lifestyle risk factor.
• Experience of blistering sunburn during childhood/young adulthood doubles the chance of developing melanoma in later life.

Other factors that increase melanoma risk include:

• A history of blistering sunburn: patients with a history of sunburn are more than twice as likely to get melanoma. The higher the number of sunburns, the greater the risk.
• Use of sunbeds: the risk is highest for patients who have used a sunbed aged under 35 but use at any age will increase the risk due to the increased exposure to UV light.
• Patients with fair skin, freckling and light hair (skin type I and II) are more susceptible to skin cancer.
• Presence of atypical/dysplastic nevi including irregular moles that are >5mm diameter with variegate pigmentation.
• Previous non-melanoma skin cancer.
• Family history of melanoma.
• Immunosuppression for any reason e.g. transplant patient, HIV Skin types.

When clients start to notice the effects of sun damage – around their mid 30s and more so after 40, they are often surprised to discover that it’s childhood lifestyle and sunbeds in their teens or twenties that have significantly contributed to their current skin woes.

So PREVENTION is by far the best medicine.

Perhaps some of you remember the Australian cricketers who started wearing stripes of SPF on their faces during matches. Australia has been at the forefront of SPF use campaigns and have lifeguards patrolling the beaches warning people that they are getting burnt. The Aussie actor Hugh Jackman has been very open about his multiple operations for skin cancer on his nose.

But whilst there has been a lot more publicity and information about sun protection, there is still some confusion. The range of products and their formulations has continued to increase and become more complex. This has arisen because it was clear that despite SPF usage becoming more popular, cancer was increasing, and it wasn’t just because of the delay in cause and effect. SPF usage was still confined to holidays, not every day. Environmentalist and scientists made a link between some of the chemicals used in SPF and damage to the oceans and reef beds plus skin scientists such as those acknowledged at the beginning of this article, were learning more and more about how the skin functioned and the role of active ingredients in offering protection and healing.

As a result, we saw the rise of a new type of SPF – the new mineral SPF vs the old chemical SPF and more complex formulations including antioxidants, moisturising ingredients and things that would prevent pigmentation (those skin patches that give an uneven skin tone).

But let’s just do a quick review of the types of damaging light, then consider why SPF is so important to skin health and what happens when the skin is exposed to UV light.

It’s UVB that is essential to create Vitamin D in our skin. Not UVA, plus you only need a small area of skin, exposure for a short period of time for UVB to create enough Vitamin D. The problem for northern Europeans is the lack of UVB all year round. This is why Vitamin D supplementation is so important and to maintain use of a daily SPF.
To protect itself the skin has specialised cells called Melanocytes which release a product called Melanin. It is the type of Melanin within your skin that gives it the ability to change colour to protect itself – so a tan is a scar, it’s damage.

To summarise;

If you have a tan or sunburn then you have created DNA damage in your skin
Unprotected daily UV exposure causes photoageing of the skin
Photoageing accounts for about 90% of the signs of skin ageing. Natural ageing is one thing, PREMATURE ageing is the enemy of healthy skin
The two main types of damaging rays are UVB and UVA, but increasingly HEV is recognised as contributing to premature ageing.

What does photoaged skin look like?

Both UVA and UVB will damage the skin cells giving us;

• Fine lines
• Wrinkles
• Thinned skin
• Loss of elasticity
• Irregular skin tone
• Visible blood vessels
• Skin cancer
• Worsened the appearance of acne scaring
• Slowed healing time

A quality SPF with other skin protecting ingredients will help avoid these conditions and keep your skin healthier for longer.

Confusions with SPF

Chemical SPF vs Physical SPF

You might have heard of chemical and physical SPFs. There is some controversy about certain chemicals in SPFs, particularly as they were used to achieve the higher SPF ratings and a more pleasant texture. So, there was a rise in the use of zinc oxide and titanium dioxide as these are pure minerals and considered clean science. They are also effective as they are stable and don’t breakdown as quickly as chemical SPF ingredients. The complaint about them is they leave a white cast on the face which can even be picked up in photos.

“A chemical filter takes approximately 20 minutes to start working as it needs to absorb and convert to heat energy before full protection can begin. One of the skin’s primary functions is absorption, which includes skincare products and ingredients like chemical sunscreen filters. After this 20-minute absorption period, a chemical reaction occurs converting UV rays into heat energy which is why some chemical sunscreen filters are associated with heat rash or prickly heat.

Mineral filters primarily reflect and scatter UV rays away from the skin. Though a very small amount may be absorbed, it only penetrates the stratum corneum, the skin’s uppermost layer.”

Source: AlumierMD SPF Paper

What do the SPF numbers mean?

SPF rating measures protection against UVB rays only, these are the ones which cause sunburn, some cancers and the epidermal layers of skin.

Here is a chart that shows the reality about protection levels and the SPF number.

You can see that the difference in UVB absorption between SPF 30 and SPF 50 is just 1%. This is going to be important when some further EU legislation changes take effect. See below.

Legislative changes

In Europe (UK is still part of the EU Cosmetic regulations) SPFs are classed as cosmetics, whereas in the USA they are classed as over the counter drugs.

Importantly, there are changes in labelling recommendations in Europe, which I am delighted to see, as I have long said that regular re-application of SPF during the day is essential and relying on SPF in make up or a moisturiser is insufficient.

“The European Commission issued a recommendation with specific labelling and claims requirements to ensure consumers can properly use such products. Hence, they should display clear warnings and instructions for use. Furthermore, they shall not display claims such as ‘sun blocker’, ‘total protection’, ‘all day prevention’. Although recommendations are not legally binding, this document represents the best practices to follow to market sunscreens in the EU.

Lastly, it is worth noting that for products providing sun protection as an additional benefit to their primary cosmetic function (e.g., make-up products with SPF), their presentation shall not imply that they can be used in place of a primary sunscreen.”

Additionally, the EU will now require that sunscreens with an SPF rating between 30 and 50 are to be labelled 30.

The aim of this change is to simplify and standardise sunscreen labelling and as you can see from the table above, the SPF rating isn’t giving the protection people think, giving a false sense of security.

The modern SPF – more than UVB protection

It was Dr Des Fernandes of Environ who first put antioxidants into an SPF increasing the product’s effectiveness at protecting the skin from the free radical damage that UV rays cause. But free radical damage to our skin cells is also caused by pollution, smoking, infrared, blue light, and UVA and SPF ingredients became more sophisticated to offer a wide scope of skin health benefits.
This is why you will see these kinds of ingredients in high quality SPFs.

Does an SPF stop my ability to synthesis Vitamin D?

A study in 2021 demonstrated that using a sunscreen didn’t affect Vitamin D levels. In Australia it was found that using sunscreen meant people were outdoors more and had higher Vitamin D levels. At a conference a few years ago, a professor at Manchester University said the skin needed nor more than 20 minutes exposure to UVB on a small patch of skin, to synthesis sufficient Vitamin D. Combine this with an effective Vitamin D supplement and test your Vitamin D levels should give you the confidence that the benefits of using sunscreen outweigh any thoughts of Vitamin D insufficiency.

My Personal Product Recommendations

My preferred products, due to their rigorous testing, science backed papers, and cosmetic elegance, are Alumier MD, DMK, SkinBetter, Dermaviduals and the makeup range by Jane Iredale. I stock a variety as the feel, texture and aroma of products is very personal and it’s best to give clients options. AlumierMD and DMK have a wide range of different SPF products both untinted and tinted. Jane Iredale provides fantastic additional SPF coverage through a variety of products such as Pure Pressed base foundation, Dream Tint, and even has SPF in lip care and hand cream products.

I hope you’ve found this interesting and gives you confidence in making better choices when purchasing your SPF products.

First Published: 26th April 2022

Updated: 19th August 2024

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