Temps are rising, Memorial Day weekend is upon us, summer is here, baby! But before we all throw on our itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka dot bikinis, the good folks at Yahoo News and YouGov are alerting us that although 83% of adults in the US believe that protecting your skin from the sun is important, in practice more than 30% don’t use sunscreen at all. Not entirely surprising, given the proliferation of people spreading misinformation about it. Yahoo/YouGov polled 1,794 people on their sunscreen knowledge and usage, and now they’ve consulted Dr. Vicky Shen Ren (assistant professor of dermatology at Baylor College of Medicine) and Dr. Julia Tzu (founder/director of Wall Street Dermatology) to help interpret the results.
Survey says: The poll revealed that 33% of adults say they never use sunscreen — with more men reporting skipping sunscreen than women (42% compared to 25%), while 29% of respondents say they use it less than a few times a month. Only 12% of adults use sunscreen every day, with more women making sun protection part of their daily routine than men (18% compared to 6%).
Skin cancer is easier to prevent than other cancers: Skin cancer affects 1 in 5 Americans, but, as Ren points out, “it is one of the most preventable cancers.” She explains that sunscreen and protective clothing, such as broad-brimmed hats, long-sleeved shirts and long pants “play a huge role in preventing skin cancer,” adding: “UV exposure — whether intermittent or chronic, low or high intensity, via tanning beds or sunlight — increases the risk of skin cancer and pre-cancers, as well as premature aging,” including lentigines (aka age spots), melasma and wrinkles.
Make it a daily habit: Experts say it’s important to make sunscreen application part of your daily routine so it becomes a habit, just like brushing your teeth. Tzu and Ren suggest keeping sunscreen in easily accessible or visible places, such as on your bathroom counter, by the door or on your desk “so you are visually reminded to use it daily,” says Ren, who suggests also keeping sunscreen in your purse or backpack in case you forget to use it or need to reapply.
SPF-infused makeup is an acceptable option: Although traditional sunscreen provides better protection than SPF-infused makeup, some level of protection is better than none. Ren says you can use a CC (color correcting) cream with SPF or tinted sunscreen “so that you are combining sunscreen with your beauty routine.” … Whether you go with regular sunscreen or the tinted kind, the American Academy of Dermatology recommends using SPF 30 or higher, which is good news for the majority of adults in the survey: 25% say they use SPF 50, and 23% use SPF 30, compared to 6% who use SPF 15 and 3% who opt for SPF 100.
You must reapply: The poll also found that nearly 30% of adults rarely or never reapply sunscreen every two hours when they’re outdoors, swimming or sweating. But experts say that leaves you vulnerable to sunburns. “After application, sunscreen gradually loses efficacy, partly due to the effects of the sun,” explains Ren. “Sunscreen should be reapplied at least every two hours, more frequently if the person is sweating or engaging in water activities. Some sunscreens will designate water resistant 40 or 80 on the label, which indicates the sunscreen will be effective in the water for 40 or 80 minutes, respectively. After that timeframe, the sunscreen needs to be reapplied.”
Sunburn and tanning damage DNA in skin cells: The poll found that 80% of adults have gotten a sunburn at least once and 64% have gotten multiple sunburns. Not surprisingly, that’s not good for your skin. “Sunburns, as well as tanning — indoor or outdoor — without burning, damage the DNA in skin cells,” explains Ren. “This damage accumulates with more episodes of tanning and/or sunburns and leads to a significantly increased risk of skin cancer, including melanoma, which accounts for the most skin cancer deaths.”
Eeks, I know I’ve been dropping the ball on daily sunscreen wear, but I didn’t realize that also included reapplication every two hours! When I’m on vacation I am super vigilant; I lather the stuff on top to bottom, and for swimming I wear three-piece suits — bathing pants (yes, really), a tankini top, and a long sleeve rash guard. Plus a visor or cartoonishly wide-brimmed hat. Why the getup? I have excessively pale-colored skin. The first time I went to buy concealer as a teen, the Sephora employee took one look and sarcasmed at me: “I think we’ll need the Kabuki section.” (I also have red curly hair, so just picture me as a young Nicole Kidman’s lethargic baby sister.)
I’m not gonna lie, integrating my strict vacation regimen into everyday life is not appealing. But I have family history to contend with; my grandmother adored “sunbathing” throughout her life, and got melanoma on her leg that was roughly the size of a small country. She recovered, thankfully. But like the doctors here say, skin cancer is the most preventative of cancers. I’d rather not just hand the Big C an easy win.
Photos credit: Derek Owens on Unsplash, Kindel media and Retha Ferguson on Pexels
I have seen 3 people with skin cancer at my job and it is not pretty. Protection against the UV rays is highly recommended. Sunscreens, hats, umbrellas should be a priority when sunbathing. There is a half-accurate belief that people with dark skin cannot get sun damage which is not true. Protection is recommended for all skin tones.
Sooooo do the people who never wear sunscreen just get sunburned all the time? That doesn’t seem fun… I know I don’t have a “normal” perspective because I have lupus photosensitivity, but everyone’s skin can burn in UV daylight, not just on sunny days at the beach. I’m wondering specifically *which* 30% of adults said they never use sunscreen, because if it was the part of my grandfather’s generation who are still living, I totally believe it. I have to fuss at him (94) constantly to cover up even though he has had multiple melanomas removed from his head, neck, and shoulders- his generation just didn’t do sun protection and still won’t.
I think it could be generational, that’s a good point. I’m thinking of my mom and dad; they’re both in their late 70’s and I can’t recall ever seeing them apply sunscreen (or at least not in my adult life, and I’m 47.) Heck, even I’m not as vigilant about it as I should be, whereas I’m pretty sure a lot of younger people are doing the right thing and slathering it on.
Some of this is generational. I’m old enough that I still call sunscreen: “suntan lotion”. And sunscreen wasn’t always widely used or recommended or even available the way it has been in recent decades. Finding a sunscreen for my face as a woman of color with oily skin used to be impossible at the drugstore, and, it’s hard to assess the appropriate spf when you’ve never had a sunburn. (Now I think spf 30+ is routinely recommended for everyone. Recommendations in the past suggested a formula based on how long it would take your skin to burn and how much time you would spend outside in the sun.) What finally converted me to wearing sunscreen regularly was the intoxicatingly awesome fragrance of Bain de Soleil Orange Gelee — which stained my clothes and was maybe spf 4, but smelled absolutely wonderful.
I wear sunscreen at the pool and at the beach, and most of the time in the summer. I also tend to wear long sleeves and full length pants most of the time.
I was just thinking as I read this, we used to call it ‘suntan lotion’ . And I remember for my brother & me, the mark of the start of summer was a sunburned peeling nose. That all stopped when my mother had some pre-cancerous things on her face removed, and then later over a course of years I had four skin cancers (all three types!). Now it’s routine–SPF in my daily facial moisturizer, sunblock on the counter in my bathroom, sunblock at my desk at work, and gazillions of travel size sunblock for purse, backpack, etc. Plus hats, long sleeves, shirts with collars, etc.
Unfortunately I find this easy to believe. As a redhead, I grease up as soon as my skin is exposed to sun, but I know lots of people who live for a tan and are willing to burn to get there.
I know more than one person who thinks sunscreen gives you cancer. I cant change their mind but I slather up every morning every day.
There is so much misinformation about this on social media! People are saying using sunscreen can be worse than getting skin cancer. All of this has been debunked by skin care scientists.
agree, and some of them are people ive known forever who actually thought this before social media, we are all in our 50s
???? we have gotten dumber as a society.
I was diagnosed with skin cancer this past February. Thankfully it was Basal Cell Carcinoma. It was removed in 2 spots. It was a total surprise because I’m not a sunworshipper. I don’t lay around at the beach, pool, tanning beds or in general to tan. When I do yard work I cover up and do it when the sun is not strong. Mine looked like a large mosquito bite and it itched like crazy when it first appeared and that what I thought it was. It was removed and after a full skin scan, I was cleared.
I never understood why people just bake themselves until they look like a lobster. I saw women that had busted blisters and still were frying themselves in the sun or tanning beds. I strongly suggest that with your annual checkup to get also a skin scan. Especially for Melanoma. There is a reason why it is called the Silent Killer.
Dermatologists still don’t really come across with their campaigns in areas like workplace health and safety.
All people working outside all day in all kinds of weather, like gardeners, farm workers or construction workers would need free sunscreen as a part of their employment protection, just like helmets, gloves, or steel-capped boots.
Or PE teachers and all the kids training outside, e.g. field&tracks.
Where are the bottles with free sunscreen for those who can’t hide inside all day?
That’s a good point. When I was a kid, attending summer camp programs, gym class and field days at school, and spending all day outside at the public pool with no shelter or shady spots, sunscreen was not generally available or even encouraged for kids who might have their own. Has that changed?
My brother’s baby goes to a fancy daycare in DC. All the babies go out every day, and the parents are required to send sun hats. The first week she was there, she was the only baby in a hat, but the daycare workers text all the parents a picture every day, and the sight of my niece’s comically large sun hat seems to have reminded the other parents, because now we’re seeing all the infants on their little baby bus in hats. (Which is great, because the sun damage you get as a child has more cancer-causing potential than the same level of damage you get as an adult.)
So, yes, things have changed, but it still requires parent buy-in.
Good to know! That sounds adorable too: cute little kids in their sun hats.
We actually did have that at various Forest Service offices where some of us were outside every day in the summer. Sunscreen & bug spray, standard stuff, along with the first aid kit, gloves, hard hat, long sleeves & trousers, boots. It’s part of the JHA, Job Hazard Analysis, per OSHA regs (Occupational Safety & Health Administration).
I’m 72 and grew up thinking the use of lotion was vain. Furthermore, I lived years in Haiti, which is a poor country where millions suffer from hunger, and I would simply have been embarrassed to use anti-UV lotion.
I only got uncomfortable sunburn once, on my wrists, from bicycling in Key West.
As a result I developed liver spots on my hands prematurely, but I’ve always wash my hands dozens of times a day.
I think younger people are more conscious of the dramatic circumstances of the sun, but again it depends what you do. I taught poverty -stricken kids in countries like Brazil and Haiti. It would have been ridiculous to cover myself with cream. Or so I thought.
This is disappointing but not surprising.
But as a super pale natural redhead/strawberry blonde (no, not strawberry shortcake LOL) I’m trying to be very cautious and use sunscreen whenever I’m going to be outdoors. And hats, and now, SPF clothing.
I’d been using SPF 30 tinted cc cream daily year round for years, but recently have been using Eucerin SPF 50 as part of my morning routine (still using the CC cream around my eyes, because the other stuff always gets in them no matter how careful I am.). I tried the highly recommended pricey one and my skin just did not like it (rash, breakout, overall sense that my system was not happy about it)
And annual skin checks, which so far have caught AK on my forehead, ears and scalp and one squamous cell growth on my part line last year. Thankfully they’re all off now, but I’m going back for my next scan happily.
There are many pics of me sporting sunburns as a 6, 7, 8 year old, before suscreen was a thing, but now that we know better, I’m trying to do better.
(If I could only go back in time to my 20’s to say “hey, North, once again, you changed into a V-neck after putting on sunscreen, might want to lather up your neck and chest before you head out for those all day bleacher seats” . Oh well)
This is a giant YIKES. I wear sunscreen everyday and reapply. With climate change the UV Index is getting STRONGER wearing sunscreen will become even more important. Also please remember folks – REAPPLY. Sunscreen only lasts for 2 hours!
One thing I appreciate about a lot of the beauty YouTube influencers. They always talk about using sunscreen daily. And have gone down rabbit holes about various products that do not white cast or irritate your eyes. There are a lot of Korean sunscreen products that are great. It made me realize I need to add it to my daily skin care routine, and I am grateful for it.
Always wear sunscreen even if you are indoors all day. You can catch harmful rays just being near a window.
My personal favorite is Summer Fridays Shade Drops Broad Spectrum SPF 30 Mineral Milk Sunscreen. No white cast, no irritation, doesn’t pill or upset my makeup. Excellent stuff.
There are options even if you don’t want to embrace sunscreen: wear a hat. Go out later or earlier in the day. Get a parasol! (Staying under a parasol will actually keep you cooler, too.) If nothing else, here’s the rule of thumb I follow: never go outside when your shadow is shorter than you are, because that’s when the sun’s rays are strongest.
I beg to disagree. Yes, your guidance on a hat, time of day, etc is important but that will not/does not give at all the level of protection. In fact you should wear sunscreen even on the gloomiest of days.
I was one that hated the feel of it, I don’t wear makeup so anything on my face felt heavy and gross. It took a lot of trial and error but there are effective and affordable lightweight options.
I understand what sunscreen does for us—as a pale, blue-eyed blonde with a family history of skin cancer, I have been seeing dermatologists and protecting my skin since I was a child. I also understand what it doesn’t do, which is protect us when it’s not applied properly. There are all kinds of areas where people rarely apply adequate sunscreen (for example: hair parts). This is where hats/sun shades/avoiding exposure* come in.
My mother (an RN) has always reminded us that for many old people, their best-looking skin is on their butts, simply because it’s gotten the least amount of sun.
*Avoiding exposure is harder than people think. It’s not just “don’t go to the beach”, it’s things like being aware of covering up even when you’re in the car. Not everyone can or wants to do that, but it DOES work.
Well said. I’ve used hats and umbrellas up until now but now I’m going to get myself one of those UV-rated caps with the back covering (scalp) and the face covering (under the eyes down to the neck).
Nothing against sunscreen – I use a zinc-oxide product when the sun is super strong and the pavement/ground will reflect light into my face – but it’s greasy and I have to use makeup-remover wipes to get it off.
If you’re going to be in the water, then sunscreen is the only option, obviously, unless you can carry a parasol or pay someone to hold an umbrella over you the whole time. Note, there’s a lot of sunscreen that’s washed into our oceans.
Hawaii now requires reef-safe sunscreen.
In addition to reapplying, it’s just as important to use the right amount of sunscreen to get the max SPF benefit. At minimum you should use 1/4 teaspoon just for your face (as told to me by multiple dermatologists). Less and that 50 SPF is actually giving around 10 SPF coverage.
I have short hair and always comment on sunscreen posts (since influencers always seem to have long flowing locks) to remember the back of the neck and tops of the ears.
I just had a very small basel cell removed and have now become a hat person along with sunscreen and if I forget, the 2” scar on my face is a visible reminder.
Exactly this! Too many people are using sunscreen like it’s a facial moisturizer- just a dollop. The easiest way to measure I find is 2-3 fingers length for face, neck and ears. And of course far more for any other exposed skin
I don’t wear sunscreen unless I’m going to be outside for an extended period, like the beach, kayaking, etc. I hate the way sunscreen feels on my skin and I usually end up with a headache from all the chemicals (I’m assuming). I do use Vit C serum daily on my face, neck, arms, whatever is exposed, so I’m not completely unprotected. I also keep an umbrella with me and use it anytime I’m outside. But for the most part I just avoid the sun, I prefer night time.
Vitamin C isn’t a UV protectant. And wearing it without sunscreen over it can actually CAUSE damage. I would highly recommend trying Korean or Japanese sunscreens if you are having trouble finding one you like. The formulations tend to be more elegant and light on the skin, they have better UV filters and are less expensive. But if you are wearing Vitamin C on your skin your skin is MORE photosensitive. And anything more than 20 minutes of unprotected exposure if you are fair skin causes sun damage.
I often don’t apply it when I’m in the house all day, I moved to a very sunny climate with south facing windows so there’s a fair amount of UV coming in and I wonder why my melasma is back. I do put it on even when we’re just off to the supermarket, a 15 or 30 min drive depending where we go and I have rosacea so it’s a necessity. Thankfully I have a couple to chose from that don’t irritate my skin. And I’m not a sun worshipper so no worries there, it’s always on my arms and I very rarely wear shorts.
My daughter however is a sun worshipper and has used sun beds and would lie in the sun at every opportunity. She moved to a hot sunny climate and when she first arrived would comment about older people with bits of their faces and body missing from surgeries to remove “things”. She posted photos where it’s clear she has burned and there was always an excuse. She saw a derm back in our home country and was told to quit the sunbathing as she was okay at that time but given the way she liked to sunbathe things could turn nasty. Well this past winter she saw a derm and had a mole removed that luckily wasn’t cancerous.
And now she complains about being pale and needing a tan 🙄
I got my car windows tinted to the darkest possible level; the guy told me but I’ve forgotten how much (%) UV that filters out.
I hadn’t realized that we need to reapply sunscreen every two hours even if we’re not sweating or swimming. I was unaware that the protection sort of wears out—this was a great article and I’m so glad I read it before summer. Thank you!
If I could post a picture of myself here after my third Mohs surgery Wednesday for you all to use to show anyone refusing to wear sunscreen, it would be a public service announcement. They had to go back in 5 times to remove skin cancer from my nose, and now I have such a huge, swollen black eye, I can barely open it. Competitive swimmer/teenage girl in FL in the 80s, paying the price. Wear sunscreen, kids!
I recently attended a rock festival in Daytona, Florida for 5 days (camping too). I went through 6 bottles of sun screen, reapplying all the time due to sweating it off. I wore my big floppy hat too. Paid more for VIP tickets so I could have more access to shade between sets/bands. I’ve done this for years and it’s another year that I have not returned with a sunburn (pale blue eyed red head here, there’s a lot of us here!) But I’m religious about it since I was a teen and got a wicked bad sunburn that turned into sunpoisoning then cellulitis in parts. It was painful and I have scars on my shoulders from it. I appreciate the aging protection of course but really, I don’t like being in pain and sunburns hurt!
It is excellent excellent advice to use sunscreen to protect your skin along with clothing choice.
PLEASE DO NOT FORGET PROTECTION FOR YOUR EYES!!!
I was recently told I have freckles in my eyes and they are the equivalent to freckles on your skin. They can turn so I have to get my eyes thoroughly exammed twice a year to make sure they haven’t altered or grown
Good heavens! That I did not know. I do know that my optometrist spotted a cataract in each eye about ten years ago. I asked him what causes that. He said birthdays and sun. Which is a little worrisome since I’ve routinely worn sunglasses with UVA/UVB protection for most of my life, but still.
I’ve been myopic since I was a child and worn glasses and contacts for decades, and the eye doctor who runs my fav eye health/care channel, Dr Eye Health, said we need to wear sunglasses even on days where it’s overcast. UV is that powerful. I’m in Australia and we’re all super sun-protection conscious. My contact lenses are UV rated but sunglasses and carrying your shade (with an umbrella) will protect the eyes and the skin around your eyes as well.
As for skincare, I use a UV-rated umbrella religiously. I don’t like sunscreen but will use it when I’m outside and can’t stay under my umbrella or if there’s a lot of reflected light (very hot days). I’m thinking about getting one of those UV-rated cap with a face cover so I can do my walks without sunscreen or an umbrella on less sunny days. The issue is you will look kind of comical, however.
Generally, I stay out of the sun as much as possible. Not into water sports or going to the beach so that helps.
I’m as pale as it’s possible to be and can’t even freckle, which is a horrible maladaption for living in NZ, where the UV is incredibly harsh and you can burn in minutes. SPF every day, even in winter, and dorky sunhats for most of the year. Can understand why less susceptible people would be more casual about protection, though.
As a child my parents would force me out into the sun to get burned, because they had some daft theory that you have to get really sunburned at the beginning of summer, then all your skin falls off and it’s tan underneath. Nope. The amount of sun damage they have is frightening, they look like bearded dragons with scales and disquieting moles and crusty growths. But they won’t wear sunscreen, and are weirdly opposed to it and hassle me for using it.
Goodness! Your parents!
I have in recent years developed hypersensitive eczema prone skin. All I put on my face on a daily basis is squalane oil, can’t even use moisturizers meant for atopic/sensitive skin, the ones with names based on the word “tolerance.” The only sunscreen I’ve been able to use on my face is sticky AF, so I’m not using it every day. I use it if I’m expecting to be out in the sun for longer than fairly briefly, but I try to cover up and wear hats, and just stay out of the sun.
Thankfully, I almost never burn. the last time I did was in Hawaii almost 20 years ago, when I forgot to adjust sunscreen when I changed into a shirt with a different neckline.
Where I live you can’t go higher than SPF50, supposedly saying that SPF 100 is actually misleading. I won’t pretend to understand the science behind why some countries allow it and others don’t: I just always wear SPF50 as that’s the highest available coverage