Which Sunscreen?

[mudskipper]

I can never seem to find a sunscreen I am happy with. They either sweat off and leave me with sunburned shoulders or run into my eyes and burn. Any good brands that really are long lasting and perform well?

[George]

I use a child's one because I have horribly pale skin. The Aveeno SPF 45 for kids is a wonderful sunscreen. It's pretty gentle on the skin and doesn't run into my eyes.

[mudskipper]

I've read that anythying over an SPF of 15 is a waste of money as it really doesn't do you any better, even if you skin is pale. I'm not sure how real that is though. I've never thought to buy kids sunscreen. Thats a good idea.

[purple]

Alright so a quick bit or research turns up this from the skin cancer foundation :
Most sunscreens with an SPF of 15 or higher do an excellent job of protecting against UVB. SPF — or Sun Protection Factor — is a measure of a sunscreen's ability to prevent UVB from damaging the skin. Here's how it works: If it takes 20 minutes for your unprotected skin to start turning red, using an SPF 15 sunscreen theoretically prevents reddening 15 times longer — about five hours.

Another way to look at it is in terms of percentages: SPF 15 blocks approximately 93 percent of all incoming UVB rays. SPF 30 blocks 97 percent; and SPF 50 blocks 99 percent. They may seem like negligible differences, but if you are light-sensitive, or have a history of skin cancer, those extra percentages will make a difference. And as you can see, no sunscreen can block all UV rays.

So it would seem based on cost it would be fairly safe to agree that anything over a spf 15 is negligably required unless you are fair skinned. However since they also recommend reapplying every two hours, irregardless of claims on the bottle of longer effeciveness it could get expensive quick for an spf higher than 30.

[George]

I disagree actually. Yes, going from SPF 15 to 30 may only cause a further 4% of UV rays to be blocked, but the difference, time wise is still that it takes 10 hours instead of 5 for you to burn. That is a HUGE difference!

And the ones I buy are all about the same price, so I would not save anything by risking sunburn.

[purple]

Unless you work outdoors you should never be outside that long (ten hours) in one shot anyway. Not to mention it is assuming it takes twenty minutes for your skin to burn without any protection. If you are light skinned I doubt you have that long. I know being more olive complexion it takes me a good hour or more to notice a burn to my skin. Not to mention it does not account for the fact that the entire time UVA/UVB rays are effecting your skin. There is no going straight from pasty to burnt. There is a gradual increase in sun exposure and damage with varying degrees of damage and long term effects. So while using a SPF 30 may give you twice as long is it really going to make a difference with ten minutes?

I have always noiced with major brands such as Banana Boat the spf 15 is marginally less expensive than 30, with a jump from there to 45, 50 or 60 and 65. Some of the fancy brands that are overpriced to start with may have less difference, but you don't usually notice the difference between just paying an arm or an arm and a leg, lol.

[Richie]

Maybe that's it-the overpay already that stops the difference. With the course I am doing in uni there are times that I do spend long periods out in the sun. But those days I use cover ups rather than cream to avoid the burn. There are fabrics that are SPF rated.