When did daily sunscreen become a mainstream thing?

[dolobug]

I'm 45 and have been using spf on my face every day since I was in my late teens / early 20's. I think that when I was in my earlier teens the info about sunscreen and skin ageing just wasn't as known and that very few moisturisers or foundations actually contained any sunscreen at all and not many would have put (sun tan lotion) on their face in winter! In fact I remember when most sunscreens seemed to be spf 6 and my parents using tanning oil in the 80's. Perhaps people from different countries where it is sunnier had different attitudes to spf but in the UK I don't think anyone was really wearing it daily until the early 2000's where they?

I recall being an outlier amongst my peers for caring about spf when I was in my 20's in the early 2000's and that people even thought the spf 15 I was wearing in winter then was excessive, never mind the daily spf 30 - 50 I was wearing daily by the mid 2000's. Even at that point when spf was more commonly found in make up and moisturiser it was and spf 15 and mostly you weren't applying that in a thick enough layer for it to be effective.

Am I wrong now in thinking that most people are wearing spf 30 - 50 on their face and exposed skin everyday even in winter? When did you first start to take notice of how important sunscreen was for your skin? Do you where it regularly and think it has made a difference to the quality of your skin as you have aged?

I think the people who use 'active' skincare mostly use high strength suncream everyday as it is recommended, as most actives make your skin more sensitive to sun damage.
Overall there is more information about the dangers of UVA rays for example, that they penetrate clouds and windows and are responsible for the vast majority of premature skin ageing - when years ago we only knew about UVB rays and sunburn. Plus formulas for both mineral and chemical sunscreens are far better, more cosmetically pleasing.
Sun damage is a bit like smoking - years ago people didn't know the dangers.

I use sunscreen everyday as I use retinoids and want to protect my skin. I'm 38 and think my skin looks better than it did 5 years ago, but that is not necessarily to do with sunscreen alone, but active skincare. The real benefits of sunscreen are cumulative, I believe my 50 - 60 year old face will thank me for making the effort.

However, I have a good friend who never uses suncream, doesn't believe it does anything and thinks it's all a con from the pharmaceutical companies - I guess we all have our own preferences.

I don't use suncream unless it's sunny enough that I will burn.

If anyone can recommend a good suncream for your face that would be fab. I've hunted many times. My skin is so prone to spots and suncream just sits there like a horrible thick oil slick. I hate it. Makes me feel awful.

I don't use anything except water on my face. I put a hat on if it's exceptionally sunny and I'll be out more than a couple of hours.
MS is prevalent in my community (NW Highlands) and likely linked to vitamin D. I'd rather have a few more wrinkles and a long healthy life. I do take vitamin D too, but in general natural is best when it comes to vitamins and minerals.

I only use suncream on really sunny days in summer. I don't put anything else on my face.

Are people using suncream year round or just using SPF by default because it is in make-up?

I'm 36 and have noticed the same, so I guess it's become a thing in the last 10-15 years. My parents were very sun safe for the time when I was young, we always wore rash shirts to swim for example, and wore sunscreen if we going to the beach for the day. But applying sun screen applied for school or work wasn't a thing.

I think it's coincided with improvements in the formulation and increased availability of non greasy, invisible facial sunscreen. I didn't use sunscreen daily as a teenager because it was so greasy and made you look weird.

The foundation I used in my teens and twenties had a spf in it, it's been discontinued now and I've never gotten into a skin care regime to apply suncream daily. I do use it on sunny days when I remember.

If daily sun cream is now a mainstream thing, I am clearly not mainstream!

I'm very pale and still try to avoid it like the plague. I only put on sun cream if I'm going to be unavoidably out in the sun for long enough that I am realistically likely to burn otherwise.

How on earth can we possibly have survived as a species if we weren't fundamentally safe to ever be exposed to even winter sun?

And yeah, the vitamin D thing - I too was under the impression that NOT getting sufficient sunlight onto bare skin was way more dangerous than allowing sun exposure. Sun = good, sunburn = bad. I worry about the relatively dark-skinned kids I see here in the north of England being plastered with sun cream all day every day from April to September. If there was never any chance they would have burned, surely it's doing more harm than good?

I use factor 50 everyday but tbh only put it on once a day in the morning so it might not have that much effect for me (unless it's actually sunny and I'm out in the sun)

I feel like it's definitely been 'a thing' for at least 15 years or so

I don't wear it every day but I don't really do "skincare" etc as I think it is a bit of a con.

I bought some facial moisturiser containing SPF because I wanted sun protection for my face without the ick feeling of sun cream but I don't wear it every day, only in summer.

50 SPF definitely normal when I was a teen in the 00s. But I was pale, so may be why?

This
It's a runny fluid

https://www.lookfantastic.com/garnier-ambre-solaire-ultra-light-sensitive-sun-protection-face-fluid-spf50-40ml/12564736.html?affil=thggpsad&switchcurrency=GBP&shippingcountry=GB&thgppccampaign=71700000088329918&adtype=&productid=12564736&gbraid=0AAAAAD-fXiqbPTtGw9pU4aDIsGL7XBwF9&gbraid=0AAAAAD-fXiqbPTtGw9pU4aDIsGL7XBwF9&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIuPmRwvfr-AIVhLTtCh1zmg0EAQYASABEgImRPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

How on earth can we possibly have survived as a species if we weren't fundamentally safe to ever be exposed to even winter sun?

Well, firstly it doesn't really kill you until after childbearing age, so not really relevant to survival of the species. But also, the sun is more dangerous now because we have damaged the ozone layer.

The ozone layer is a lot thinner and knowledge has increased.

So many of my uncles (farmers) are Having BSCs removed from their faces and arms now, all 60s+

When I was younger we used to use baby oil now Boots won't sell under an SPF 15 sunscreen, and rightly so.

Does it make a difference though? I really don't know. Of course sun can damage your skin. If you sunbake regularly you will be very wrinkled. But does it make that much difference for a more typical person who works indoors, doesn't sunbathe, etc? I can't say I've noticed any difference in appearance between people I know that use it religiously and those that don't. I still use it though, just in case.

Am I wrong now in thinking that most people are wearing spf 30 - 50 on their face and exposed skin everyday even in winter?

Yes, you're wrong. I would say a very small % of people, the skincare nerds, wear an SPF all year round.

No, I'm not wearing sunscreen in the winter. I don't care if I look old when I'm old. I wear sunscreen to avoid burning.

Aren't most people who are plying themselves with factor 50 in the winter because they have made their skin unnaturally susceptible to sun damage with various acids and such?

@GromblesofGrimbledon my skin is similar to yours and I use a La Roche Posay one (available in boots).

I don’t wear sunscreen every day but my tinted moisturiser / foundation has an SPF in.

You can get powder sunscreen that might work better on you ? If you are pale then the REN factor 30 cream is good and dries matt, it isn’t greasy.

No. I was always sensitive to sun as a pale redhead. I don't use acids on my body and I burn within 10 mins at 10am
Never ever tanned in my life and my mum had skin cancer

But not in the winter, surely?

I only wear sun cream in the summer or on particularly hot spring/autumn days and only if we're going to be out in it for a bit of time. If I'm just popping out to do nursery runs or shops etc. then I don't bother. The only people I know who wear it more routinely do so for specific medical reasons.

I think this too
In winter, there's a good chance you won't be even be outdoors during the daylight hours, or not for long. I would be surprised if there's a need for most indoor workers to wear SPF in winter.

@PeloAddict

Thanks but it seems this only has 3 star UVA rating

It's in my foundation I wear everyday and my moisturiser, I'll then use a separate face suncream factor 50. This is the norm for me however my family member has had skin cancer twice cut out of their face from years of not wearing sun protection. It's not nice to have a chunk of your face cut out.

Anyway, if everyone wore sunscreen right through the winter then shops would have the same amount of sunscreen on the shelves through the year. But they clearly don't. They empty shelves and shelves to make way for it in the spring and then leave a few stray bottles of it hanging around from autumn for the people who continue through winter and those lucky enough to be jetting off to warmer climates.

That's because for years we only knew about the dangers of UVB rays, which are the ones you feel on your skin on a sunny day, and cause sunburn.
However, in recent years there is more research that shows that UVA rays are present all year round, and cause premature skin ageing. So for more cosmetic reasons, people like me wear it everyday.