Sun cream every day?

[Lemonpepper]

It just occurred to me that there are often threads on Mumsnet looking for face sun cream recommendations.

These days it seems a lot of women feel that you should wear SPF on your face every day, some think year-long, others just through the sunnier months. There are always threads debating this but it does seem to be a general trend that nowadays people are more aware of skin care and cancer risks etc so more women in particular do wear suncream or makeup with SPF regularly.

So my question is, if you wear SPF daily are you putting it on your children too? If adults should wear it every day, why not children too? Are women putting SPF on their face daily but not their children?

It occurred to me as I've been putting suncream on my toddler more often at the moment since the weather has become nicer. But if I'm trying to find the perfect daily SPF for myself (most make me spotty so it's an ongoing struggle!), why am in not putting it on him every day?

I think a lot of people now argue that you should have suncream on even if it's overcast because of UVA vs UVB.

I know a lot of mums who wear SPF moisturiser or SPF under makeup but aren't applying it to their children everyday, so just wondering what most people do.

I would like to find an SPF that I can wear every day without breaking out in spots. In the meantime I keep it to when the sun is pounding down and tbh I don't think to put any on my toddler unless it is actually sunny.

Interesting question!

I'm an every day SPF wearer but don't have kids so I can't say what I would do. At a guess I probably wouldn't think to put it on them through winter but agree that doesn't make much sense if I'm wearing it myself.

This. I don't wear make-up or moisturiser so if I wanted SPF year round I'd be wearing actual suncream all year round. Does anyone do that?

I've only heard about this wearing SPF year round thing on MN, never discussed skincare with anyone in real life ever.

I do. And I don't know anybody in real life these days who doesn't.

I wear spf50 every day if I’m out and about (I might occasionally skip a day if it’s overcast in winter and I won’t be out long). I do it mainly for vanity than skin protection, although I am very careful in the sun too.

With DC I don’t put it on them every day as they need vitamin D while their bones are developing. I’m very sensible with them in the sun though and I think my family think I go OTT, but then they think everyone one looks better with ‘a bit of colour’ (I think I look better without the crepey leathery chest but 🤷‍♀️)

Yes to both. We are all ver fair

We all take vitamin D

I do not wear suncream unless I will be outside for a prolonged period. I am fairly dark and do not need it. I have never burned in the UK and am unfussed by wrinkles.
We only discovered vitamin D 100 years ago. We know so little about our bodies and what they need. There is no shadow of doubt that being outside is good for us, but we have so little understanding of our bodies, that I doubt Vit D is the only thing we get from it. I do not believe that you can replace the benefits of the the sun with a vit D tablet and think it is essential for human health and happiness.

I don’t really use it myself. Always used to put it on the kids but gave them 10 minutes without first, to help with vitamin D.

I have vitiligo though, so essential, not vanity

Is this because a lot of women actually use quite strong skin care products like retinol & vitamin C serum on their face which actually makes their skin more sensitive to UV & makes it more important to use an SPF?

Try Aloe Vera sun cream. Really makes skin feel nice

We actually had a talk at work recently about sun safety. I learnt that it's actually the UV index you should worry about (this is shown in most water apps) and anything over 3 (moderate) sun protection is recommended.

Our nursery also use the UV index to decide when the kids need suncream and hats so this is what I'm going to follow with DD from now on

Weather apps* !

I casually mentioned this very thing to one of my adult DC last year, and they now put spf on their children almost year-round, treating it as a daily moisturiser that should help reduce the risk of sun damage in the future.

I use it on my face every day. Spf 50. This is to reduce the aging effects of the sun. If it was just for cancer prevention I would probably wear it in the summer months and just rely on the spf in moisturiser and makeup in winter.
My adult sons only wear it in summer but their skin won't age as much as men's skin is thicker and they can make their own choices. I do bang in about it ti my teen dd

I use an spf moisturiser every day because I use retinol at night.

I only put suncream on my kids from April/May til September.

I wear SPF on my face in summer, I’m not vain enough to bother the rest of the year. I put cream on my kids in summer months only (and then not if only out for a bit). We are seriously lacking in vitamin D exposure in this country

You can still get skin cancer though

This is interesting, thanks.

For those saying we need vitamin D, does suncream prevent the absorption of vitamin D?

In Scotland all children are advised to take free daily NHS vitamin drops with A C and D.

Skin cancer (melanoma) is a huge issue these days. I had it too, but luckily they found it in the very early stages.
People loves the sun and sunbathing. The problem is that they don't understand that we are successfully destroyed our planet, so the sun is not affecting your skin in the same way as it did a 100 years ago. Sun these days is extreamly dangerous! I know this as I go for skin check ups and mole removals often and I talk to the doctors.
Best to do is take vitamin D every day during the winter and every other day during summer time. No sunbathing and always use spf when the sun is out!
I wear spf 50 every day on my face. It's the best way to protect your skin not only from damage but ageing too.
My daughter has extreamly white skin too so I put spf50 on her every day as soon as the "sunny" season starts.

Happy medium. I don't with my kids and they do not burn as we are sensible and to be honest they are healthy come winter and I believe the exposure is good but as I say we are sensible, cream goes on in mid to high twenties but always let them get some sun as well so not constantly applying one child tans very well, Mediterranean background hso do the other 2 but they need more cream as they arent as olive skinned as first child. I use organic cream as well. I do believe this method as helped come the long winters and grey days here with their health and immune system.

I use spf face and hand cream all year round. I make sure it's on my neck and chest too. I use spf on my arms in warmer weather. Started today. Cover my son in factor 50 from now until the winter

I don't wear makeup and I certainly don't wear sun cream every day. I only heard of that recently and it sounds very odd to me.

I put sun cream on my kids whenever they go outside in the summer months.

I wear spf every day all year round. I have a 8 and 4 year old and they do too.

Every. Single. Day