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You won’t see me. You won’t feel me. I will make you wrinkle and age. I burn what I touch and I damage your DNA. I can even alter your cells to make them divide and grow uncontrollably. What am I?
UV radiation (UVA and UVB rays) causes premature skin ageing, sunburn and cell damage, which can lead to skin cancer. Moreover, many people are surprised to learn that Australia has the second-highest skin cancer rate in the world.
Luckily, all of this can be prevented by protecting yourself from the sun’s harmful rays. When used as directed, sunscreen significantly lowers your risk of radiation damage by reducing the amount of UV rays that reach your skin.
“When used as directed”...surely applying sunscreen is relatively simple? It’s actually more complicated than you might think, which is why the SunButter team has come up with a handy guide on how to apply sunscreen.
Did you know that 9 out of 10 Australians don’t know when to apply sunscreen? According to the Cancer Council, you should use sunscreen whenever the UV index is forecast to be 3 or above. Don’t know how to check the UV index? Luckily, there’s an app for that!
If you don’t have the app, then it’s advisable to wear sunscreen whenever you are spending more than 20 minutes outside, regardless of whether or not it’s cloudy and cold, or hot and sunny.
Whilst SunButter is a physical and chemical-free sunscreen (meaning that your skin doesn’t need to absorb it before it can start providing protection), it’s still important to apply it 20 minutes before you venture outdoors. This will provide the sunscreen with adequate time to settle and provide a fully protective barrier before your skin is exposed to UV rays - sun damage can begin during the first minute of exposure!
Definitely! Especially if there are lots of windows. Whilst most of the UVB rays are filtered out through the glass, the majority of UVA rays still penetrate. This means that your skin is still at risk of being damaged. This applies to car journeys too!
The beauty of humans is that we’re all unique, with different body shapes and sizes. Additionally, there will be areas of the body that will require more protection due to higher exposure (not covered by clothes), such as the face and shoulders. Therefore, it makes this question really difficult to answer in terms that are easy to understand.
Technically, the application rate of sunscreen should be 2mg per square cm. In other words, for the average person, you should apply approximately one teaspoon per limb, back, front and face. However, this does not apply to everyone and some people will need more sunscreen than others.
Ideally, you should focus on applying an even application which covers all exposed skin.
SunButter Sunscreen has been formulated to provide SPF50. As explained in our blog on the best sunscreen for Australia, SPF50 conveys protection for up to 50 times longer than if your skin was not wearing sunscreen. So if your skin would usually take 10 minutes to burn without sunscreen, then SPF50 will technically protect your skin for 500 minutes.
However, in reality, there are plenty of external factors that will affect the duration of sun protection. For example, weather, physical activities, sweat, water exposure and contact with clothes and towels all have an impact. Furthermore, a lot of people don’t wear enough sunscreen in the first place. It is therefore important to reapply frequently, at least every 2 hours.
SunButter Sunscreen works perfectly underneath both liquid and mineral make-up. However, we do recommend applying the sunscreen 20 minutes before any powder-based foundations. This is to ensure that the moisturising oils absorb into your skin, preventing any of your make-up from clumping.
