4 Reasons Why Your Sunscreen Doesn’t Work

In my last post, I mentioned that the Environmental Work Group found that only a mere 16% of all sunscreen products in the United States actually work. And here’s why:

1) Many sunscreen products do not protect your from both UVB and UVA rays. The SPF rating is used only to rate the effectiveness of UVB rays. There has been no rating system for UVA rays– now found to be the even more harmful than UVB rays.

2) Most sunscreens only work once they are absorbed into your skin. If you haven’t applied at least 20 minutes before, than your are not going to be protected during the time it takes for the product to become effective.

3) Within minutes of exposure to the sun, most sunscreens start to break down and lose their effectiveness in protecting you from harmful sun exposure. In fact more than half the of products on the market today start to break down when exposed to the sun.

4) Not knowing that your sunscreen continually becomes less effective, you stay out in the sun believing you are protected when you are not. Frequent and continuous application is necessary for most of these sunscreens to work, and most of us don’t think or remember to keep on applying them.