What Does SPF Mean

hi.. i think ur website is amazing...i just wanted to ask a qucik question...for those of us who cant afford expensvie brands...what brand is the most effective of the ones available in normal drug stores...by that i mean is it loreal , neutrogena...olay??...and is it best tht all the products in ur skin care regimen be from the same brand or u can mix and match thank you

Hi Dr. Schultz,

I've often wondered if it safe to end up with a slight tan after spending time in the sun while wearing sunscreen. Is it safe to say that any tan represents a degree of skin damage?

In your video you note that an SPF2 would take you twice as long "before you start to burn." Is this point in time, the same time at which someone starts to tan (and cause skin damage)?

Thank you!

@Sarah: While some people do get darkening of their skin despite using effective sunscreen, that darkening is much less dangerous than the darkening that occurs without the sunscreen. Yes, it does represent some damage but less harmful damage.

When your sun exposure exceeds the time of protection of the SPF, you then begin to incur a sunburn. But the darkening that constitutes a tan occurs several days after the sunburn.

@Selwyn: You can mix and match skincare products from different manufacturers, and in terms of economical and effective sunscreens, purchase your sunscreen according to SPF, your skin type, and your budget. Because SPF values are so carefully regulated by the government, all of the brands you've mentioned make effective sunscreens so you can shop by price for an SPF between 15 and 30.

Hi Dr. Shultz,

I have a couple of questions -

1). I have an SPF 55 lotion. I've also seen some with SPF of 85. Do they work better in preventing sun burn? Do they provide more coverage, or do they provide coverage for a longer period of time? I'd heard that anything over SPF 30 was not really any more effective.

2). Is there something I can use to prevent getting tanned?

3). From your response above - "When your sun exposure exceeds the time of protection of the SPF, you then begin to incur a sunburn. But the darkening that constitutes a tan occurs several days after the sunburn." - I gather than the tan that appears on the skin shows itself after the burn has already happened. Is that right?

Thanks so much!

@Monica: Please find my responses to each of your questions below...

1. "Very high" SPF sunscreens do not work better in preventing sun burn, they don't provide more coverage, and practically speaking, they don't provide coverage for a longer period of time. Your statement, "I'd heard that anything over SPF 30 was not really any more effective," is completely correct; SPF 30 gives at least 95% protection, SPF 55 gives almost 99%, SPF 85 gives 99% and no sunscreen gives 100%, so there is very little additional protection offered by "very high" SPF sunscreens and it is mostly a marketing technique that many consumers get caught up in.

2. Proper use of effective sunscreen prevents most people from tanning. Some people have such sensitive pigment forming cells (melanocytes) that even with proper use of effective sunscreen they still get a slight tan which is much less dangerous than a tan without sunscreen. For those people, chem free sunscreen may work better.

3. The sunburn and tan are not simultaneous. The sunburn causes an injury to which the body responds by forming (over a few days) more melanin pigment (the tan is just increased melanin pigment) which then acts as a sunscreen to decrease the amount of additional harmful UV penetrating (and injuring) the skin. The skin is very smart, this is one of it's innate protection mechanisms. It take a few days for the skin to do this, i.e., to make the additional melanin.