A List of the Best and Worst Suncreens and How to Choose

We hear constantly that we should wear suncreen daily. Its been introduced in makeup, skin lotions, sprays, childrens products, and a myriad of other choices. We hear and are told that sunscreen can effectively protect us against age spots, wrinkles, problems with UV exposure, and most importantly skin cancer. Its imperative to cover children in sunscreen because their skin is more sensitive. Not putting sunscreen on a child, especially in direct sun exposure for a long amount of time, can really cause some skin damage and set up potential future problems.

Multiple research studies have been done to evaluate sunscreen and exactly how effective each brand and each ingredient really is. The FDA has not updated their requirements for sunscreens in over 30 years, yet we have gradually been exposed to harsher rays in those 30 years. The sunscreens of yesterday cannot be expected to protect us today. Not only are sunscreens not protecting us, many of them break down quickly, meaning instead of protecting you for the average amount of 2 hours, they break down chemically within 30 minutes to an hour. Thats an hour to an hour and a half in between application in which you have no protection.

The problem is also that many of these sunscreens contain chemicals that are actually harmful to the user, or issue claims that are inaccurate. No sunscreen can offer "all day protection". The sad part is that nobody has ever conducted research on the effectiveness of these sunscreens, despite how much and how often we hear that we should wear protection.

Before I even list the best and worst. these researchers want you to remember the basics:

A. Always reapply every 1-2 hours. Do not wait longer than 2 hours to reapply.

B. Apply enough! But what exactly is enough? You need to fully cover your face with a dime size on each cheek, a dime on your forehead and nose and a quarter or more on your neck and arms. A quarter size for your legs as well