Suntan lotion question?

[PassingStranger]

Anyone else confused about the different factors of sun cream available?
Going on holiday soon. What do you buy for an adult? Factor 50 or 30?

There are also special suncreams for the face?
What would you buy, bearing in mind skin has not had much exposure to the sun this year so far?

Without a doubt factor 50 for the face, neck. Sometimes use factor 30 for the rest of the body, but it depends where your going on holiday. If it was Australia it’d be factor 50 everywhere.

SPF 15 blocks 93% of UV rays.
SPF 30 blocks 97% of UV rays.
SPF 50 blocks 98% of UV rays.

In reality that means that they allow 7%, 3% and 2% through respectively.

So SPF30 is actually a full 50% less effective than 50 which is significant. And 233% more effective than SPF15.

Personally I use factor 50. I use the same for my face as my body. I always apply it more regularly than it says and ensure I don't miss my neck, chest, ears and backs of hands.

I also use a lower SPF on my face throughout winter months.

I’d do 50 ; I have olive skin and don’t burn but in case the lotion isnt exactly what it says on the label as many not regulated substances do I’d rather go safer than not. Our face is exposed to the sun at all times- even on cloudy / rainy etc days; I always/ daily use sunscreen even indoors (we get exposure through the windows), again spf 50.

I'm a blue eyed red head and love Romans P30, I bought it first for my honeymoon trip to Oz and now buy it in the sale each autumn for the following year. We were there in Queensland for 3 weeks, went to the zoo, the beach, the rain forest, out to the great barrier reef snorkeling and scuba diving and didnt burn once. I get the liquid one for my body and the kids cream one for my face (the liquid is very alcoholic, hold you breath if you do use it on your face).
Apparently it binds to your skin so doesn't wash off the way normal sun cream does.
All day Calypso is very good too, but doesn't last as long in water.

Always use 50 op initially, maybe 30 once brown.

I buy a different one for my face - more like skin cream, less greasy. Always 50 on face!

We use Calypso all day and it works very well. Only really reapply if spending a lot of time in the water.
we use factor 30 and dont burn, even in very high uv environments.

Yes. Maths isn't limited to linear relationships!

If you could sit out for 10 mins before you get burned, with SPF 10 you could sit out for 100 minutes of similar intensity sun. SPF 10 blocks 90% of the sun's rays, i.e. it lets through only 10% so it takes 10 times as long to burn.

SPF 30 blocks 96.7%, i.e. it lets through 3.3% so it takes 30 times as long to burn with SPF 30 as with nothing. If you could sit out for 10 minutes without anything, with SPF 30 you can sit out for 300 minutes (5 hours) in the same intensity sun.

SPF 50 blocks out 98% of the sun's rays. i.e. it lets through 2%, (so SPF 30 lets through >50% more damaging radiation than SPF 50 does). If you can sit out without sun screen for 10 minutes, with SPF 10 you can do 100minutes, with SPF 30 you can manage 5 hours and with SPF 50 you can do 500 minutes (8 hours 20 minutes).

If you lived on some sort of space station always facing and the same distance from the sun, that could be useful - an extra 3 hours 20 minutes of exposure. But the reason it's not useful in real life is because we don't get even 5 hours of intense sun in a day so the additional 3 hours 20 minutes is superfluous.

I get both, 50 for the start of the holiday and 30 for the rest of the time but 50 on the face.
The kids have 50 throughout.

I have no sunny holidays planned though so generally use 30 in the UK if it's a hot day.

Rawbloomers is right, factor 50 is most useful in extreme UV which really only happens an hour a day if you are on/near the equator with very clear skys
I guess if you live in OZ cumulatively 50 is better than 30 but for 2 weeks in Greece? Not so much unless your skin is highly sensitive to sun.

It's important to also look at the UVA rating , it is shown as the number of stars on the bottle. You should pick a suncream with a 5 star UVA rating for better protection, ideally factor 30 or above for the best protection. You don't need a different one for the face, but I do as won't use anything less than 30 on my face, but I'll sometimes use 15 or 20 on my body when I've got a deeper tan

We use Soltan 50 for adults and kids. I use ultra violette 50 queen screen on my face. I'm mixed race. Burn easily but ran deeply. Factor 50 doesn't prevent tan, it prevents damage.

*reduces damage

i just use f30 wherever I am - in the UK or abroad. During the hottest time of day I'm careful with shade, hats and covering up. I use Altruist sunscreen as it is cheap, effective and nice to use - not greasy and no strong "holiday" smell so I don't mind using it on a day to day basis, for work etc.
Aftersun is a bit of a con - just use ordinary body lotion.

@RawBloomersAgreed. By the time I realised what you were actually referring to, it was too late to edit.

I use spf 50 and I don’t seem to tan with it but I’ve had skin cancer so I am extra careful. I do use a separate face spf just because it has a better texture and doesn’t leave me looking white and shiny.

What do you mean better than the fancy stuff?

I think they mean that often the cheaper own make suncreams have a higher star rating than some of the more expensive brands e.g. Garnier, nivea, banana boat, etc will often only be 3 star rated whereas own brands tend to have a 5 star UVA rating

I use factor 50 although I'd be happy with 30 too - I use 50 on my dcs so easier to use the same one. I use a separate facial factor 50 for my face as the general ones (for face and body) give me breakouts. I'm quite lazy with reapplying, but I get away with it as I'm ethnically from SE Asia and never burn, and usually head indoors after a few hours.

I use Calypso once a day, it's brilliant, though as per PP if it's humid (looking at you Majorca in August) you sweat a lot of it off, if a dry heat it's great.
I use 30, husband and daughter use 50. I buy either from Amazon or home bargains

Both Aldi and Morrisons own stuff has a 5 UVB rating - lots of expensive stuff is lower Hawaiian tropic is 4

argghhh 5 * - it bolded it

Redhead so factor 50 for me even in the U.K.

Ultrasun is fab for all day coverage.

I buy a 30 and 50. I also do have a separate one for my face though as I don't like my face to be greasy. Still get a good tan glow and don't burn. 🔥

Why would you lower your protection once brown?