Did you know you should be applying your sunscreen with a teaspoon? Well, kind of...

Save the blush for your rosé
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Chloe Street26 July 2018

Do you find you apply your sunscreen in the morning then by the cocktail hour you’re burnt?

Do you end up resorting to more expensive brands and ever higher SPFs in an attempt to protect your porcelain complexion from cindering?

Well, according to a recent report from scientists at Kings College London, we might have been getting it all wrong.

Apparently, most of us are not getting the ultraviolet radiation blocking benefit of our sunscreen because we are simply not applying our products thickly enough.

Bare with me…

When sunscreen manufacturers calculate the SPF protection they write on the bottle, they work it out based on 2mg of cream per cm2 of skin. However, this study finds that the majority of people use just 0.8mg for the same area which equates, generally, to less than half of the SPF protection promised by the product.

The results showed for example that applying SPF 50 in this way would at best provide 40 per cent of the expected protection.

Report author Anthony Young, Professor of Experimental Photobiology at KCL, said that an average-sized woman wearing a bikini in the sun should be applying suncream at least three times a day. As a result, she should be going through one 100ml bottle of lotion per day.

There goes our hand luggage allowance.

“Most people who use an SPF 20 sunscreen will actually be getting something like SPF 4 because they aren’t applying enough,” says Young. “They overestimate the protection they are getting and they stay out in the sun too long and get burned.”

So how do you know if you’re using enough? Well, luckily the boffins at Kings College have a handy way of measuring the right amount. And it’s in your kitchen.

They suggest sun worshippers should apply at least half a teaspoon (3ml) to each arm, the face and neck. A full teaspoon (6ml) should then be applied to each leg, and the front and back of the body.

“There is no dispute that sunscreen provides important protection against the cancer causing impact of the sun's ultra violet rays,” continues Professor Young. “However, what this research shows is that the way sunscreen is applied plays an important role in determining how effective it is.”

Nina Goad of the British Association of Dermatologists said: “This research demonstrates why it's so important to choose an SPF of 30 or more. In theory, an SPF of 15 should be sufficient, but we know that in real-world situations, we need the additional protection offered by a higher SPF.”

Basically, apply a little more (OK twice as much) than you thought necessary, and top up at lunch and afternoon sangria time.

And if you can’t be bothered with all that, stick to a higher SPF. As you were, sun lounger lizards, as you were.

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