I’ll admit—as a teen, I took to the beach wearing not nearly enough sunscreen, convinced that I could avoid burns by getting a “base tan.” Now, knowing what I do about the dangers of UV rays on the skin and have seen the scary reality of skin cancer diagnoses in my own family, I know how important it is to wear sunscreen daily, regardless of if you’re working from home or heading on vacation.
While most of us acknowledge the importance of sunscreen in this day and age, we still have a long way to go when it comes to adequate sun protection and education, as a recent survey by The Skin Cancer Foundation found that a shockingly small number of Americans actually wear sunscreen every day.
Featured Experts
- Jeanine B. Downie, MD is a dermatologist in Montclair, NJ
Sun Protection: a Work in Progress
If you had to guess what percentage of Americans wear sunscreen daily, what would you say? Twenty percent? Thirty? According to a recent study by The Skin Cancer Foundation, only 11 percent of Americans wear sunscreen daily. It doesn’t stop there, though—the foundation also found that “on average, sunscreen users only applied sunscreen products if they planned to be outside for at least three hours on sunny days,” and that “even skin cancer survivors are not very compliant,” with “more than a third of them saying they infrequently use sunscreen.”
I first learned this surprising news about American sunscreen habits at a recent event for the launch of La Roche-Posay’s Anthelios UV Hydra Sunscreen SPF 50 ($40) while talking all things skin health and their new formula that protects from 98 precent of UVB rays with Cell-Ox Shield Technology, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since. With lightweight, hydrating, sensitive skin-safe formulas like La Roche Posay’s Anthelios UV Hydra SPF 50, sunscreen can and should be seamlessly integrated into any good skin-care routine.
Why Should You Wear Sunscreen Everyday?
“As we all know, sunscreen should be used every single day and reapplied several times a day, always with an SPF of 30 or more,” says Montclair dermatologist Jeanine B. Downie on the lackluster sun care habits of Americans, “Wearing sunscreen decreases your risk of skin cancer, of course, but it also decreases sunspots, dark patches, fine lines and deeper wrinkles if you wear it consistently. Sun damage is real—your pore size will remain smaller and your skin texture will be smoother if you put on and reapply sunblock consistently. I tell my patients if they want their face to look fabulous as they age then should put on and reapply sunblock.”
