It is a common myth that you can’t get brown with sunscreen. But is that really true? To answer this, we take a closer look at the function of sunscreen.
For many, tanned skin is desirable due to common ideals of beauty – fatally, because there is no healthy tan. Nevertheless, people with light skin often lie in the sun without adequate protection to get the coveted complexion. Because the rumor that you can’t get brown with sunscreen is persistent.
You also get brown with sunscreen
The dermatologist Christian Merkel refutes the rumor in the Süddeutsche Zeitung that you don’t get a tan with sunscreen. Despite the sunscreen, you can become brown – however, according to the expert, it takes a little longer.
No matter whether with or without sunscreen: if you sit down to the UV radiation of the sun, your pigment cells begin to form melanin. Melanin is a naturally occurring color pigment that not only ensures the browning of the skin, but also contributes to protecting it from the harmful effects of the UV rays.
Melanin also forms with sun protection. The reason is that sunscreen acts as a filter and not as a “sunblocker”: No matter how high the sun protection factor of a sunscreen is, it cannot protect the skin 100 % from solar radiation. So you will also be brown with sunscreen.
Get brown with sunscreen: LSF doesn’t matter
Incidentally, it doesn’t matter whether you get your slogan 30 or 50: You get browns either way. Because even creams with LSF 50+ cannot block the entire radiation. According to the Helmholtz Society, two percent of the UV radiation still leave them on the skin, i.e. a fifty-. Nevertheless, sun protection is recommended with a sufficiently high light protection factor to reduce the risk of sunburn. Because it extends your self -protection time.
You become brown not only with sunscreen, but also when you are in the shade. As dermatologist Merkel explains, a sunburn can also threaten you in the shade. This is because harmful UV rays are reflected from the surroundings or that parasols only block part of the radiation. So it is advisable to apply it to the shadow.
Sun protection: What you should consider
So you can also be brown with sunscreen. Nevertheless, you should not see this as a free ticket for putting on the lunch sun for hours. Because sunscreen is not a 100 % protection and only one of many measures that are necessary to protect yourself from premature skin aging, sunburn and thus increased risk of skin cancer.
The following should be considered if you are in the sun:
- As the Federal Office for Radiation Protection recommends, you should avoid direct sun and protect yourself from the sun with textiles and headgear. A headgear also protects your hair from the sun.
- Use sunscreens without questionable ingredients. These can not only harm your health, but also the environment if you bathing in the sea or lake. Octocrylen is considered to be particularly harmful. Take a look at our sunscreen best list-there we present recommended mineral sunscreens.
- Don’t forget to apply regularly to prevent sunburn. You should also use enough sunscreen. Two milligrams of sunscreen are recommended per square centimeter skin. As a rule of thumb for the face and neck: use half to entire teaspoon of sunscreen.
Read more on utopia.de:
- Sun protection for the baby: Everything you need to know for the excursion into the outside
- Sunburn on the lips? Happens quickly – this is how you protect yourself
- So you protect yourself from the particularly dangerous spring sun
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