Burning even with SF50 ?!?

[MiniCooperLover]

So I've used various SF50's for years (Nivea, Ambre Solaire etc) and am always a bit pink despite copious amounts used. My face would get horrible cystic spots, blocked pores so last summer (for Portugal) I had La Roche Posey SPF50 and it was brilliant. I didn't burn, just lots of freckles. The last 2 days I'm more than pink. I know its hot, I'm applying regularly AND Im sitting regularly in the shade but still I'm pink ... What to do ?!?! Is there stronger in effective facial skincare? Or is it because I'm getting older (just turned 43)? We are off to Portugal in July and am getting quite worried. I've always taken care of my skin, will buy a good sun hat but what else do I do ?!? 5 year old will want me in the pool/beach at times (as will I).

Logical as stated, I wear Anthelios ka under Anthelios xl. But if you look at the uvb and ppd ratings for KA (on box and published on many other sites that sell it) it's actually PPD 40 (SPF 100)....the ppd is higher than the xl range. That's astronomically high UVA protection.

It's supposedly the most highly recommended product for daily use (by professional dermatologists, I mean) in mainland europe now. Great makeup base too.

I see it's not widely available in UK, unless you order it online, unfortunately, but much info regarding protection eg.

medstore.be/la-roche-posay-anthelios-ka-50ml

farmaventas.es/lanzamientos/2406-la-roche-posay-presenta-anthelios-ka.html

Good luck, OP

You're not on any new medication thasts making you photosensitive ???

My understanding is that SPF 50 means that it will only protect you for 50 x the time in minutes it would take for you to go red without any sunscreen. So if the sun is so hot that you would burn in 5 mins then you would only be protected for 250 minutes. Reapplying doesn't protect you further. I stupidly got burned with SPF 50 in Dubai once as I thought I was protected all day.

The expiration date us only relevant if you haven't opened it. It's only good for a certain number of months once you've opened it. If you had it last year (and it was effective last year) you need a new tube for this year. Have a look at the back of the tube. There should be a jar symbol with a number. Thats how long it keeps once opened. It's usually either 6 or 12 months.

I wear high factor chemical sunscreen and then put a layer of mineral suncreen over the top if I'm going to be outdoors in strong sun.
Seems to work well but I look pretty strange with the white face thing going on

are Korean sunscreens really that much better...dont they all ultimately rely on the same chemical and mineral active ingredients with the important factor being how diligently you use them?

Burnishedsilver is right! You have to buy new suncream every year if it's been opened (with exception of ultrasun which I burn with anyway!)
If it was opened more than a year ago that is defo why you're burning which makes sense as you said you used it in the past and didn't burn at all! Expiry date is only there for an unopened product.

You need to wear a hat. There's a reason Australians say "slip, slip, slap" - sun cream is only one part of sun protection.

I'm very fair and I can't spend a whole day in the sun relying on sun cream, even with reapplying.

Why doesn't ultrasun have an expiry date Jo, just curious. I buy the 400ml pump dispensers and often have a bit left over over winter but have never thrown any away because of age.

How often are you reapplying? If you are prone to burning you need to keep reapplying.

Try Sunsense. Australians know sunscreen!

I second Sunsense. I get the Ultra (50) on prescription.

Lavender because the ultrasun is in an airtight pump container they say it has a shelf life of 3yrs (I think) once opened.

Sun sense made my skin on fire even before goin into sun!!

I had no idea jo and my bottle is next to the bikes in a barn after using it yesterday!

I was just going to ask whether sunsense is good for sensitive skin. Never heard of it before but it is only £22 ish for 500ml at Amazon, whereas I pay £50 odd for 400ml of ultrasun so much cheaper if it suits your skin.

Suncream doesn't stop working if it's been open for a year, it just had a reduced effectiveness. It's definitely better to buy new but I wouldn't throw away a nearly new bottle from last summer.

It's very misleading to suggest that SPF30 means you can stay out 30 times longer than you could without suncream before you burn. It really doesn't work like that (despite years of advertising telling you otherwise)
Once you get over SPF30, then increased benefit is minimal. Once you get over SPF50, the increased benefit is so negligible as to be not worth counting.

You'd be better off with a good broad brim hat, a lower sunscreen with a physical barrier (zinc) and stay out of the sun from 10 -3.
Slip, slop, slap, seek, slid !
Slip on a shirt, slop on some suncream, slap on a hat, seek shade and slide on some sunnies

I use moogoo 30 plus as i'm out of the sun mostly and wear a hat and find shade.

www.cancer.org.au/preventing-cancer/sun-protection/preventing-skin-cancer/spf50sunscreen.html

Have you started acid toning?

Are you using a retinol?

Sunsense is great. Basic sunscreen is really cheap in Australia - we use so much of
it! Ultrasun seems to be capitalising on the sunscreen premium in the UK.

Beta carotene capsules are also worth a try, especially before exposure to strong sunlight when abroad.

no robust evidence for beta carotene providing sun protection, although eating your five a day to get a reasonable dose won't hurt.

OD on the capsules and you risk being a sunburnt oompa-loompa.

www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/natural/999.html

Didn't know beta carotene wasn't supported by evidence. All I know is I took it before and during a holiday abroad alongside using the same sunscreen and had the least reaction to the sun for a v long time so my experience was that it worked for me.