Hi, and welcome back to Edmonton Dermatology YouTube channel. We’re so glad you joined us. My name’s Karen. This is Andrea Logan. I registered LPN here at Edmonton Dermatology and today we’re gonna be talking about sunscreen.
Yay. Sunscreen. Summer’s coming. We need to know all of this. Summer’s coming. I swear guys. I know it’s made. It’s snowing but it’s coming.
Coming. Oh man. It’s been crazy. Yeah. So we have Brandy Roderick, I don’t know if anyone knows who she is. Kind of controversial, but she is, you know, very high profile like beauty queen. Right? She’s, she’s actually very beautiful. She says I always wear SPF 30 sunscreen under my makeup. Now she wears it under her makeup, which is what you suggested before. But she also says, I also wear a hat because taking care of my skin is important to me. So I’m sure you would agree with Oh Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Both of those.
And here’s an a fun fact. People who use sunscreen with an SPF of 15 or higher daily show 24% less skin aging than those who do not use sunscreen daily. Sun damage is cumulative. Cumulative only about 23% of lifetime exposure occurs by age 18. That surprised me. Actually that means there’s like 70 whatever percent left that you could be exposing your skin to that, that damage. And that’s coming from skin cancer.org. Why is sunscreen so important?
So sunscreen actually protects you from UVA and UVB, which can actually cause harmful things to your skin cells and it actually reduces your risk of developing skin cancers.
What’s, okay, this is actually a very good question ’cause I’ve always kind of wondered what is the difference between UVA and UVB? Please break it down for us.
So the easy way I try and remember it is UVA is for aging, UVB is for burning. So each of the uvs actually penetrate the skin at a different depth. So UVA will actually penetrate deeper into the skin, into the dermis, which is the second layer of your skin. So you have your epidermis, your dermis, then you have fat cells in your skin.
So the UVA can actually go all the way to the dermis of your skin and cause a harm to your collagen and elastin and start breaking that down. UVB will hit the top so at the epidermis of your skin, which is why you end up with those sunburns. Okay. So it kind of burns all those cells right in the top layer that actually don’t have a whole lot of protection when they’re on their own. So sunscreen is really important to make sure that those do not go into your skin.
Are there different types of sunscreen?
There are. So there’s physical blocks and chemical blocks. Physical blocks are usually ingredients like zinc oxide and titanium dioxide. So these two ingredients are mineral based. They tend to be a little bit thicker when they are in pure sunscreen or sunblock. Essentially a good way to know what these are is the good old school lifeguards that had the white noses that are creamed, that was zinc oxide. So what that does is literally bounces the UV light off of the skin.
So there’s like no questions asked, get outta here. Chemical blockers and I use that kind of a loose term just to differentiate between the two. These are ingredients that actually will absorb the UV light and break it down before it becomes harmful to your skin.
Okay. one of the big ones out there is oxybenzone. Now I do know recently there was a ban of oxybenzone in Hawaii for risk of the coral reef. Now actually oxybenzone is okay if you’re obviously not swimming in the ocean, if you’re just putting it on when you’re going to the park, it’s okay to still apply it but obviously still kind of keep up with like what countries you’re going to visit.
And if you are going to visit somewhere where you’re gonna be going into the water and that maybe stick to something more like the zinc and titaniums or the physical blocks because they are more mineral based, they’re more likely to be okay for the environment. Yeah.
Much more natural. More natural. Yeah.
So what is the best type of sunscreen then?
So I always say it’s touch and feel. If you are not going to like the way it touch, like the way it feels on your skin, the way you put it on your hands, if it’s chalky, if it smells funny, you’re obviously not gonna put it on. So you really need to try and test, see which ones you do or don’t like. Really keep up with like what you want in your sunscreen.
Now of course there’s lotion types, there’s spray types, there’s all kinds of different ones. Spray is great if you’re in for like rush spraying it on. Awesome. But you still need to rub it in. Please, please, please rub it in and keep in mind if it’s windy outside, it’s not touching your skin. So it’s better to use el. Yeah. ’cause You spray in it just hits the next person, which is great for them, but it’s not
Great for you. As long as they rub it in. Yes, you have to rub it in. ’cause If you just spray one shot, you’re literally gonna have a white stripe down your arm and the rest of your arm is going to burn. So make sure you rub it in there. Really good. Yes. That won’t look very good. No, we feel very good.
So my moisturizer has SPF in it. Is that gonna be effective?
So moisturizers with sunscreen, I love this concept. It’s great. But the problem is it’s usually at a lower SPF so we usually say minimum in s pf 30 MM-Hmm. A lot of these only have SPF 15. Okay. So you’re not quite getting quite the coverage that we want. Usually an S SPF 30 will get you a 90% coverage from the sun. Okay. When you’re in a 15 obviously we’re cutting back. Okay. So, and the other thing too is sometimes we put the moisturizer with SU SBF in it on in the morning, but we don’t go ahead and reapply later on.
So it’s important to remember that you’ve gotta reapply your sunscreen when you’re gonna be outside for a long period of time. And also because it’s mixed with a moisturizer and sunscreen, it has trouble trying to differentiate if it’s going to be moisturizing for you or if it’s gonna be a sunscreen. It doesn’t really hydrate the skin as well as having the two separate. Hmm. Okay.
So how should I apply sunscreen?
So I have my favorite here. It’s actually from Vivi eight. It is a combination of a physical and chemical block in one. So I love this. It’s breaking it down, it’s bouncing it off. Great. So usually what you do is you take usually about a good size like that. So that’s like what a dime. Yep. Looks like a dime. Yep. That should cover your face and neck and your ears. Don’t forget your ears and your Ears. Oh, that little bit can cover all that.
Yes, it will cover all that. Oh, a little goes a long way with this product. Nice. Other products you may need more like nickel sized or even a quarter size. Usually this amount definitely will not cover your arm. It won’t cover your legs, so you obviously need a little bit more. So thinking about more of like a quarter size to cover your entire thigh. And of course you just rub it in. That’s all you need to do. Make sure it’s not tacky as you can see. Not sticky. Nice. It’s already dry, it’s not wiped anymore. So that’s when you know you’ve got it into your skin all good and proper.
Well that’s good. So how often do I need to keep reapplying the sunscreen?
So obviously first thing in the morning’s really important. So as soon as you’re done your regime, you put your moisturizer on your sunscreen, then you can put your makeup on ladies. But if you’re gonna be outside for a long period of time, so usually if you’re gonna be out like playing a sport or watching your kids play sports or going out for a hike, put it on 30 minutes before you actually go out in the sun exposure and then every two hours after that. Okay. And it’s important to keep it diligent that way. Nice.
What is the best sunscreen for children?
This is actually really important because my daughter did get a chemical burn from sunscreen. Yes. And I know it was sunscreen. Yeah. So, so put at ease here.
Yeah. That’s a common thing. Again, those are more the, the chemical blocker sunscreens. Again, I use that term loosely, but it’s just to kind of differentiate between physical sunscreen, which has the zinc and titanium. Those are the best ones for the kids. Yeah. Yes. They’re chalky. They’re not gonna like it, but they’re gonna thank you when they’re older. I swear. Yeah. I thank my mother all the time.
Yeah. Less painful too. Less
Painful too. So definitely. And zinc oxide actually is found in baby butt creams when they have diaper rashes. It’s calming. Yeah. So it actually will help soothe their skin anyway. If they’re feeling like they’re getting a little bit of a rash or something, it’ll calm it down too. But the best thing for kids is sunscreens that actually say indicated for children. Right. Okay. So make sure you look for that.
The other thing too is if they are under six months old, no sunscreen. Right. Their skin is still developing. They cannot handle ingredients on their skin. Basic moisturizer. Absolutely. But nothing else. Not until they’re six months old.
And this actually has been proven through a lot of clinical research and stuff like that, that it’s not until six months and older can you apply sunscreen to your kids. So those little infants keep them in the shade, keep them hydrated, all that kind of stuff. It’s important to make sure that they don’t get any sort of sun exposure at that age because it puts ’em at a huge risk for skin cancers. Which is not good. No. And they’ll find that out when they’re older.
Yeah, exactly. Okay. So what’s the difference between waterproof and water resistant and which one is better?
Exactly. So it’s interesting. There’s actually a new regulation that just came out from Health Canada that products are no longer to say that they’re waterproof. Oh, okay. So they can’t actually prove that it’s waterproof. It’s only water resistant. Okay. So you’ll notice on a lot of packages this summer that they’ll say water resistant with a timeframe. Okay. You have to stick within that timeframe because otherwise it just washes all off. And because you’re in the water, you’re gonna get a higher dose of sun.
You’re getting it from above and you’re getting it bounced off the water. So it’s getting way stronger. Even with water resistant, I still say put it on before you go in, do your thing in the water. Have fun when you come out, pat yourself off reapply even though you weren’t in the water for two hours. I still think it’s just safer to just put more on. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.
What is the best way to heal a sunburn?
Because sometimes we just still get that sunburn. Yes. Well first off is putting your sunscreen on. That’s the most I part to just try and avoid it all together. Aloe vera, I’m sure everybody knows it’s a good old wives trick is great, It’s soothing. Moisturizing is really important and it’s not just like twice a day. It’s putting it on multiple times because as we know, sunburns have a tendency to feel quite tight. Right.
Sore. they kind of burn a little bit. The more moisture you put on it, the better and the less likely you’re actually going to peel your skin. Right. Because it’s getting proper nutrients to try and heal itself. So I like aloe vera, but sometimes it’s a little sticky. So then I just switch to a really thick body moisturizer to kind of help out with that area.
But you never wanna put something like Vaseline on or something. So, but that’s a little too thick and that actually just stops the heat from escaping
The skin. Exactly. You want that heat to come out. ’cause Obviously you don’t want it sticking in there and being like hot. ’cause It hot heat obviously hurts. Yeah. so putting on just a regular body moisturizer more frequently, so probably like four times or whenever you need it. Literally whenever you need it, it’ll make
You feel, feel better. Yeah. All right.
This is my last question for you, UPF clothing, what does that actually mean?
Can you explain it at All? Yes. So UPF stands for ultraviolet protective factor. So this will actually be put onto clothing and I see it’s actually getting more and more popular, which is cool. But it actually just tells you how much the sun is actually penetrating into the clothing. So past the clothing. So, so when it says 50, it means one 50th percentage of UV is penetrating through the clothing. Oh, okay. Okay. So that means that you’re pretty covered really.
But nothing beats, you know, long sleeves when it is super sunny out. If you’re gonna be out for a long time, I know it’s hot out, but loose clothing, that’s long sleeves. Wearing your hat, your sunscreen, staying in the shade is ultimately your best protection against sun. And getting those burns and getting those pre aging factors and also preventing you from getting eventually skin cancers, which nobody wants. Trust me. No. It’s such a nasty thing. It is a nasty thing. Scary.
Yeah. Well thank you so much for joining us here and thanks for all the great info. Andrea. You are welcome again, and don’t forget to subscribe to the channel and like the video if you got some information from it. That’s a lot of useful information here and we’ll see you on the next video. Yeah.
And have a great summer everybody. Bye. Bye.