You may think that applying sunscreen with a SPF of 15 is enough but your skin needs more than that to be protected well enough.
SPF (sun protection factor) 15 is not enough sunscreen for the skin. The minimum SPF you need is SPF 30, this is the minimum SPF you should be using regardless of your skin complexion. This will keep your skin protected from sun damage such as sunburn and the early signs of ageing.
We know that wearing sunscreen is a necessary part of keeping a good skincare routine. We should actually be wearing sunscreen around the clock come rain or shine. Yes, it’s true that wearing even the lowest SPF is better than wearing no sunscreen but we should also note that just because we’re wearing some sunscreen doesn’t mean it’s doing much. This article will be answering the question of “is SPF 15 enough for the face?”.
If you use sunscreen you might trick yourself into thinking that you can go out and spend a lot of time out in the sun. Truth is you still need to stay out of the sun as much as you can. Yes, SPF protects your skin to some extent but the only way to truly protect is to prevent sun exposure.
It’s a misconception that if you wear a primer with SPF 20 then a foundation with SPF 15 and a moisturiser with SPF 15 then all of them together will give you an SPF of 50. This is not true, if you do this you’ll get the SPF of the highest one of your products, so 20 in this case.
Table of Contents
Is SPF 15 effective for the face?
No, this is not the minimum SPF you should be wearing on your face. The recommended SPF for our skin is SPF 30. This is the minimum recommended by dermatologists. If you have no other choice than to use an SPF of 15 the yes using some sunscreen is better than nothing. That is also the cause if the sunscreen is expired.
Spf 15 offers 93 percent sun protection, SPF 30 offers 97 percent sun protection. In addition, we aren’t applying enough sunscreen in the first place. If we do use sunscreen we usually only apply 1/3 of the sunscreen we actually need.
So if you use an SPF of 15, and apply too little, your skin isn’t really protected at all. If you can’t apply the correct amount of sunscreen you should purchase a higher one to compensate for the thin application.
In addition, you probably aren’t applying it often enough, you need to be applying sunscreen every two hours. If you’re only using your SPF of 15 in the morning with your other morning routine products and you don’t reapply the sunscreen throughout the day you won’t be adequately protected. Note: You can use sunscreen as a moisturiser in some cases.
What’s the difference between an SPF 15 and SPF 30 on your skin?
The higher the level of sunscreen the higher the percentage of sun rays blocked. Note: this only applies if you apply the correct amount of sunscreen (I will go over how much you should actually apply later)
- SPF 15 blocks 93 percent of the rays
- An SPF of 30 blocks 97 percent of rays
- SPF 50 blocks 98 percent of the rays
- An Spf of 100 blocks 99 percent of the rays
There are no sunscreens that will block 100 percent of the sun’s rays
Is SPF 50 good for the face?
A higher SPF sunscreen is always good for the face and skin but if you have a family with a risk of genetic disease, or skin cancer then even this SPF might not be high enough for you.
If you don’t have skin conditions then a sunscreen between 30-50 SPF is pretty much all you need. The higher SPF sunscreens only have marginally different sun protection abilities on your skin.
A higher SPF sunscreen also tricks your mind into thinking that you can be out in the sun for much longer and don’t have to cover up. You still need to minimise how much time you’re out in the sun and make sure you apply the sunscreen liberally
How much sunscreen should you be applying on your face?
If you apply sunscreen every day but find that you are still getting burnt then it’s most probably because you did not apply a thick enough layer. Dermatologists have noted that people do not apply as much sunscreen as needed.
The amount of sunscreen you need to be applying needs to be quite thick. You need about 2mg of sunscreen for every cm squared of skin. Or if you are an adult that equates to a shot glass of sunscreen for your whole body. For the face alone will need a third of a teaspoon of sunscreen.
If you can’t apply that much sunscreen in one application then you can separate it. To get the full effect you need to apply the sunscreen twice in one sitting. The first layer of sunscreen needs to be applied like you normally do. The second layer (just as much as the first) needs to be applied after 10 or 15 minutes. This will help you reach the sunscreen thickness you need.
Do I really need to reapply sunscreen every 2 hours?
Yes, you need to apply sunscreen every two hours. If you’re going outside the sun will degrade the sunscreen. If you’ve been out in the sun for 2 hours the sunscreen would have broken down by the end of the 2 hours.
A sunscreen with an SPF of 50 can degrade and become a sunscreen with an SPF of 10 after being exposed to the suns rays for 2 hours. For this reason you need to reapply your screen after 2 hours.
In addition, throughout the day, your sweat will melt the screen away. If you’ll be swimming you need to be reapplying the sunscreen after you swim and towel dry.
That being said if you apply your sunscreen in the mornings and go to work but aren’t sitting in a sunny area then you should be fine and your sunscreen will stay intact all day. If you’re sitting outside or close to a window the suns rays can get through the glass and degrade the sunscreen
Other ways to protect your skin?
Because sunscreen will not totally protect your skin from the negative effects of the sun you will need to have additional sun protection methods. You can do things like wear clothing that covers your body and try to stay in shaded areas. This article is a more in-depth look at what else you can do.
Can you tan with SPF 15?
Yes, you can still tan if you’re wearing SPF 15, you can still tan wearing any level of sunscreen. That is if you use sunscreen specifically, sunblock prevents the UV rays from entering your skin thus preventing tanning, sunscreens filters UV rays allowing you to tan.
There is no sunscreen that’s able to protect you against all the suns rays. SPF 15 protects your skin from 93 percent of the sun’s rays, even SPF 100 only protects against 99 percent of the suns rays, the difference in sun protection is quite minimal. Sunscreen protects your skin from burning not from gaining colour or tanning
Does black skin need sunscreen?
Yes, yes, yes black skin needs sunscreen, it is true that some black skin has a natural SPF of 13 but that isn’t even close to the sun protection that the skin needs, the skin needs SPF 30 to be protected. This SPF 13 is all well and good but the sun protection factor of melinated skin is overstated. Melanin does not protect against both UVA and UVB rays.
Statically black people have lower instances of skin cancer but this cancer is still a problem in the black community. It may not seem like it’s such a pressing issue in the black community but black people definitely do get skin cancer. Unfortunately, for black people, skin cancer is only diagnosed in the later stages of cancer, when it’s more aggressive.
Which SPF is best for black skin?
When looking for skincare products people of all skin tones need to look for products that protect against the UVA and the UVB rays of the sun, it would also be nice to find a sunscreen that will not give you too much of a greasy look.
If you’re black, or have melinated skin in general, you’ll also need to look for a screen that does not give you a white cast. A good sunscreen that can do all this is the Glossier Invisible Shield
This isn’t a heavy sunscreen, it’s lightweight and you can wear it under your make up if you choose, it smoothes your skin making it a perfect base for makeup. It doesn’t feel oily or heavy as bit absorbs into your skin quite an easily.
It leaves no white cast and as a bonus, its non-comedogenic, dermatologist-tested and paraben-free. This is a chemical sunscreen, if you would prefer to use a physical sunscreen you simply have to rub the product into your skin for longer to get rid of the white cast.
What are the side effects of sunscreen?
One well known and despised side effect of sunscreen is that it leaves an oily residue on your skin. The reasons behind sunscreens being so oily and tacky is that they contain a high concentration of the active screening ingredient in the formulas.
The chemical sunscreens are usually the ones that are oilier, the physical sunscreens give you a white cast. If you want to find out how to make your sunscreen look less greasy then click this link.
Does makeup provide sun protection?
Makeup can give your skin some sun protection but it isn’t really doing you any good. The barrier that the makeup offers can result in uneven tanning of the skin and can even give you sunburn as well as damage your skin to a point where you’re still at risk of getting skin cancer.
Even in the case of wearing makeup that contains sunscreen, this is still not an efficient way to protect your skin from the sun’s rays. We should be using quite a bit of sunscreen on our face to get adequate sun protection, that translates to wearing 7-14 times the normal amount of power, for example, to get the correct protection level. This is not exactly viable.
Do I put sunscreen on before tanning oil?
You should not put sunscreen before or after tanning oil, you shouldn’t be mixing these two products in the first place. These products aren’t designed to be used together. If you layer them on top of each other their ingredients can interact and this can make the sunscreen less effective.
If you want good healthy skin you shouldn’t be using tanning oils in the first place, tanning oils attract the suns rays to your skin which will inevitably damage it. Rather use a good self-tanner if you want to tan. This is a well-loved self-tanner.
Which sunscreen is best?
The best screen is the Sun Bum Original SPF 30 Sunscreen Lotion, this sunscreen is an oil-free and non-comedogenic sunscreen that will protect your skin and moisturise the skin without making your face look greasy. It protects against both the UVA and UVB rays of the sun and as a bonus, it smells likes summer.
The sunscreen is gluten-free, cruelty-free, paraben-free and hypoallergenic, it also contains no octinoxate or oxybenzone. Octinoxate has been shown to be potentially harmful to animals and the environment. Oxybenzone is a hormone disrupter in humans. Note: This a chemical sunscreen so you have to reapply it every 2 hours.
Can we apply sunscreen over moisturizer?
Yes, you should definitely apply your sunscreen over your moisturiser, these two products do different things and both are needed. Moisturisers hydrate and moisturise keeping your skin looking supple, young and fresh.
Sunscreens simply protect your skin from the sun. The two can be layered but make sure you don’t mix your moisturiser with your sunscreen, mixing them will dilute the sunscreen.
We should be using 1/3 of a teaspoon of sunscreen on our face to get adequate sun protection. We won’t achieve that if we mix the moisturiser with sunscreen and apply it all at once, rather layer your products
Does sunscreen make your face glow?
Yes, sunscreen does make your face glow, well it makes your face glow if you have dry or normal skin. If you have this skin type you can use a sunscreen that contains oil as it will help moisturise your skin.
On the other hand, if you have oily or combination skin then a sunscreen with oil in the formula will make your skin greasy looking. If you have this skin type then you need to use an oil-free and mattifying sunscreen so that you don’t get that greasy look on your face.
What is sunscreen made of?
There are two types of sunscreens on the market physical sunscreens and chemical sunscreens, they both protect from the sun in different ways. Physical sunscreens use mainly titanium oxide and zinc oxide to reflect the sun rays off of the skin. These two ingredients create a barrier on top of your skin, they don’t actually absorb into your skin. These two ingredients create the white cast on the skin
Chemical sunscreens use chemicals to protect your skin from the sun. The typical ingredients found in chemical screens include oxybenzone, avobenzone, octisalate, octocrylene, homosalate and octinoxate.
These chemicals get absorbed into the skin and sink into the deeper layers of the skin. When the UV rays hit the skin they enter and react with the chemicals. A chemical reaction occurs and the rays are converted into heat. This heat is then released out of the body.
I hope you enjoyed this article looking at if SPF 15 is enough for the face. If you enjoyed this article please share it.
