What Is the Best Form of Skin Sun Protection In 2024?

Summer is just around the corner, which means you should do your best to protect your skin from the sun's UV rays. Fortunately, there are many things you can do to achieve that and we’ll be talking about them in this article, so keep on reading to learn more.

1. Wear a Wide-Brimmed Hat

It’s crucial to choose the right hat to protect yourself from the harmful UV rays. And that’s exactly what a wide-brimmed hat does; it protects all the skin areas that are typically exposed to intense sun, including the forehead, nose, ears, and scalp. Furthermore, a non-reflective, dark underside to a brim lowers the amount of ultraviolet light that reaches your face from reflective surfaces like water.

2. Wear Sunglasses that Can Block UV Rays

Wearing UV-blocking sunglasses can help you protect the delicate skin around your eyes and eyes themselves. Keep in mind that the ideal sunglasses should be able to block 99%-100% of UV rays. So make sure to check the label before purchasing sunglasses. Look for labels that say “Meets ANSI UV Requirements” or state that UV absorption is up to 400 nm.

Also, it’s worth mentioning that darker glasses don’t automatically mean better UV protection; what protects your skin from UV rays is the invisible chemical applied to the lenses instead of their color or darkness.

3. Use Sunscreen

The sunscreen can be one of the most effective protections against the sun. However, note that the sunscreen only functions as a filter, meaning it doesn’t block all the UV rays. So you shouldn’t use it as a way to extend the time you spend under the sun. In other words, sunscreen is like the first line of defense rather than the only line of defense. The wonderful thing about sunscreens is that they are available in various forms, such as lotions, gels, creams, ointments, sprays, lip balms, and wipes, which means you have many options to choose from.

4. Wear UPF50+ UV Protection Clothing and Swimwear

Certain clothes and swimwear can provide you with different levels of ultraviolet light protection. Clothing that protect the skin from UV rays are labelled with UPF50+ tags which blocks >97.5% of the sun UV radiation and are usually made from tightly knitted woven fabric; and styles include long-sleeved shirts, long skirts, and long pants that cover as much skin as possible. Additionally, dark colors offer more protection compared to light colors. UV protective swimwear include full body cover UV swimsuits, Stinger suits and Sunsuits as they are called in Australia; These suits are made from swimwear materials such as Lycra, Spandex, Elastane and Next generation Polyester/PBT which is lighter and provide chlorine resistance when used in chlorinated pools. These suits are comfortable to wear and a good alternative to keep applying sunscreens every few hours when spending a long day on the beach. Sun protection swimwear also follow same UPF50+ standard as clothing, the more the fabric is knitted the better the UV protection.

5. Avoid Being In the Sun During the Afternoon and 6 p.m. (Peak Hours)

The sun’s UV rays tend to be the strongest during peak hours, so avoid spending time under the sun between the afternoon and 6 p.m. But if you cannot avoid that, try to limit the amount of time you are outside and seek shade whenever possible.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, there are many effective things you can do to protect your skin from the sun's UV rays as best as possible. So don’t forget to use all these methods to maximize your protection from ultraviolet light and enjoy the summer to the fullest.