Sunscreen, Sunblock and UVA/UVB Explained

Understanding sun rays and sun tanning lotions will help you get the best tan.

There are two main types of UV light that comes from the sun:

UVA – These sun rays are the ‘tanning’ rays. These penetrate deeper into the skin where the ‘tanning’ occurs. Least associated with causing skin cancer.
UVB – These sun rays are the more damaging “burning” rays. These affect the surface of the skin. UVB rays help your body produce Vitamin D but over exposure to these rays can cause skin cancer – Melanoma, Basal Cell Carcinoma and Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Melanoma is the deadliest of all skin cancers.

Fact: A sunburn does NOT turn into a sun tan.

There are basically two types of lotions to protect from the suns rays:

Sunscreen – This typically will ‘screen’ the sun rays, blocking out the harmful UVB rays. Prevents burning and ALLOWS sun tanning.
Sunblock – This type of lotion will block both the UVA and UVB rays. This prevents sun burning AND sun tanning.

The Sun Protection Factor (SPF)

The SPF number is used in a simple formula to calculate how much longer you can stay in the sun without getting a sunburn.
If you typically get a sunburn after 10 minutes in the sun and plan on staying in the sun for about 60 minutes you could use SPF 6:

10 minutes x SPF 6 = 60 minutes

Minutes to burn x SPF = Total minutes protection

Everyone has a different time frame as to when they will show signs of a sunburn. An average time before you experience a sunburn is about 30 minutes. The higher the SPF number doesn’t necessarily mean that much better of a protection, it means a longer duration of protection.

Typical Sunscreen Ingredients:

Octocrylene
Oxybenzone
Octisalate

Typical Sunblock Ingredients:

Octocrylene
Oxybenzone
Octisalate
Titanium Dioxide
Zinc Oxide

The ingredients of sunblock and sunscreen products can vary, as well as the % of each ingredient. Both UVA and UVB rays are harmful – But if you MUST tan use a SUNSCREEN to block the UVB rays.

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