HELLO Sunshine!

All you need to know about the bottle that helps you soak up the sun. It's that time of the year when you pull out your breezy summer shifts, broad-rimmed shades, flip-flops and sun block. The season demands thatyou shield your body from UV damage. The right kind of sunscreen helps you enjoy the sun without worrying about premature ageing, skin irritation and in some cases, skin cancer. While more of us are using sunscreens, most of us aren't sure exactly what protection they offer, andare cloudy about the technical terms on the labels. Here, we tell you all you need to know-from why you need to buy a new bottle every season to how to apply sunscreen for maximum protection. 1. What kind of damage can UV rays really cause to our skin? Overexposure to sunlight without sunscreen can cause sunburns, discolouration and irritation. Even at low levels of exposure, UVA rays break down collagencausing wrinkles. UVB rays cause skin burn, darkening, irritation and in extreme cases, skin cancer. "I encounter a large number of patients complaining about irritation and sun aggravated skin disorderslike miliaria, acne, rosaceaand lupus," says Dr Apratim Goel, director, Goel's Cutis Clinic, Mumbai. Adds Dr Navin Taneja, director, National Skin Centre, Delhi, "UVB affects the top layers of the skin but the damage is principally due to the combined action of UVB and UVA rays." Research shows that as many as 90% of skin cancers are caused due to UV radiation. But the good news is that skin cancer isnot very common in India. 2. But we're dark-skinned, do we really need sunscreen? The inherent colour and quality of our skin offers us some amount of protection. "Our brown skins offer natural protection from the sun due to the higher melanin content which blocks the UV rays," says Taneja. However we can all face skin damage such as sun spots, freckling and pigmentation."People of all skin coloursshould use a sunscreen with SPF 15 and UVA coverage, when out in the sun," he says. Choose a hydrating sunscreen lotion, so you don't need additional moisturising. Nowadays, many moisturisers and make-up base come with added SPF factor 3. Does SPF determine mysunscreen's strength? SPF (sun protection factor) evolved as a lab measure to test the effectiveness of a sunscreen. It refers to the sunscreen's ability to block out the sun's harmful UVB rays. SPF is also a measure of the length of time a product protects against skin reddening from UVB, compared to how long the skin takes to redden without protection. So if it takes 20 minutes to begin reddening, using an SPF 15 sunscreen theoretically prevents reddening 15 times longer (which is 300 minutes or five hours). While SPF measures the amount of UVB absorption, it is not the only thing to look for. 4. What is broad spectrum protection? A sunscreen with broad spectrum protects againstboth UVB and UVA rays-the latter causes wrinkles and premature ageing. UVB rays (which can be tackled with SPF), are the cause of skin burn, irritation and skin cancer. "A good broad-spectrum sunscreen should have an SPF 15 and contain avobenzone, titanium dioxide or zinc oxide," advices Dr Chytra Anand, medical director, Kosmoderma Clinic, Bengaluru. 5. What is the difference between physical and chemical sunscreens? Your jar of sunscreen contains organic and inorganic elements whichabsorb or reflect the UV rays and protect your skin. "A chemical sunscreen helps absorb UV radiation, making them less damaging," explains Anand. These include ingredients like mexoryl, avobenzone, oxybenzone- which can cause irritations and allergies. Inorganic ingredients which don't absorb UV rays, reflect and scatter them away from our bodies. "Older formulations like zinc oxide are opaque," explains Dr Jamuna Pai, cosmetic physician, Blush Clinics, Mumbai. Newer formulation of micronized titanium dioxide is not as opaque and provides excellent protection 6. What is the right amount to apply? A common mistake that everyone makes is applying too little sunscreen. It is recommended that you apply 5 to 6 tsp to cover the entire body. "Use a two-finger scoop of sunscreen on your face and neck every day no matter the weather," advises Pai. It forms a layer around the skin andneeds to be applied 30 minutes before stepping out in the sun. Q How often should it be re-applied? Sunscreen needs to be re-applied within two to three hours. Regardless of claims by products, reapply if you're sweating heavily or doing activity in the water. However, re-application doesn't change the product's SPF value. So, applying a sunscreen with SPF 15 twice won't change it to 30.