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Hi, I am Michelle Bechtold, LMA, National Trainer with Therapon Skin Health. An SPF
is actually a Sun Protection Factor listed on the front of a sun product with a number
attached to it. That actually is a part of a multiplication problem. it is in fact, a
factor. the other part of the equation is different among different skin types or colors.
The skin types that are very, very light, this would be people who have light hair,
light eyes and light skin that actually tend to burn very quickly in the sun. They're rated
at about a 10, meaning 10 minutes, in 10 minutes of sun exposure, they begin to exhibit redness
in their skin. if you take that ten minutes, that number and multiply it by the number
that's on the bottle, so let's just say it's an SPF 30. Multiply that by those ten minutes,
that's actually 300 minutes that individual can be in the sun before it's recommended
to re-apply the product. So the confusion comes in where many people believe that higher
the number, the more protection. That's not necessarily true. If you have product with
SPF 90 and your skin exhibits redness within 10 minutes of sun exposure, that's taking
the SPF 90 and multiplying it by the 10 minutes of sun exposure getting 900 minutes of protection.
That's a lot of time for the product to be on the skin and the problem is, that you have
been shedding skin cells. You have probably been sweating or swimming or participating
in outdoor activities. And the product has now become very diluted and fairly ineffective.
The other problem associated with those high numbers listed on the SPF 90 to 100 is they
are using chemicals and those chemicals are just multiplied. The problem with compounding
that much chemical content within the product can lead to excessive irritation and aggravation
on the skin's surface. the skin does not need to be irritated or aggravated anymore when
it's already being exposed to ultra violet light. So it is safer to stick with an SPF
40 - 30 or SPF 15 that has a zinc oxide or physical block that does not absorb into the
skin but stays on the surface of the skin and is reapplied about every two hours, When
again, participating in outdoor sports or activities.