https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Fri, 06 Nov 2026 21:02:56 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sunscreen-question-1#post-1490267 Wed, 12 Mar 2014 20:17:14 +0000 Mrs. Chipmunk 1490267@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrsmac - here's a little about how much effect increasing SPF has on protection: <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/08/what-spf-does-and-doesnt-tell-you-about-your-sunscreen/261180/" rel="nofollow">http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/08/what-spf-does-and-doesnt-tell-you-about-your-sunscreen/261180/</a><br /> generally the thought is anything above 50 doesn't make a significant difference, but you can take what you will from the article.</p> <p>an SPF 100 probably has zinc or another barrier in it... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sunscreen-question-1#post-1490260 Wed, 12 Mar 2014 20:14:30 +0000 Pepper 1490260@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I am also really curious about the reset time. As in, how much time indoors would be needed before a new application of sunscreen would work. </p> <p>@swedishfish: I have some posted on IG! You need to join! ;) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sunscreen-question-1#post-1489115 Wed, 12 Mar 2014 11:48:44 +0000 MrsMac 1489115@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I also have so many questions about this now! I have VERY fair skin, so I use a very high SPF sunscreen (we went to Egypt as part of our honeymoon and I took SPF 100!) I've had people laugh at me and say that the higher numbers don't make much of a difference. I always took that as basically a warning not to think that I could just slap on SPF100 in the morning and be good to go without ever reapplying, which I'm aware I need to do no matter the strength of the sunscreen. But if it's true that reapplying doesn't "reset" your amount of time before burning, than doesn't it make sense to start out with the higher number? And for that matter, if I put on a SPF 30 in the morning, then decide I'm going to be outside longer than I though, can I reapply with a 50, 80, 100 and extend my time? Or does the fact that I started out with a 30 mean that roughly 300 minutes is all I get that day, no matter what? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sunscreen-question-1#post-1488276 Wed, 12 Mar 2014 06:38:12 +0000 T.H.O.U. 1488276@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mjane: this is my point. I KNOW I'm able to stay in the sun for much longer without burning by reapplying. I really worry that this could be very easily misrepresented and people think if they aren't swimming or something they don't need to reapply. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sunscreen-question-1#post-1488268 Wed, 12 Mar 2014 06:31:29 +0000 looch 1488268@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>So, this guidance is for chemical sunscreen? Just because I am way confused now...if you have a mineral sunscreen, which I am assuming is barrier, what are the reapplication guidelines? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sunscreen-question-1#post-1488245 Wed, 12 Mar 2014 05:59:59 +0000 Mrs. Chipmunk 1488245@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I agree with @edanda because in her example the max time without a burn is 300 min, so reapplying doesn't give you an extra 150 to make it 450 , but simply makes up for not putting enough on a d/or sweating it out.</p> <p>Barriers work different than actual sunscreens - sunscreens absorb the uv rays while barriers actually reflect them. Also barriers are probably more likely to get rubbed off. I know I coat my seatbelt and door panels with white paste in the summer from my zinc oxide </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sunscreen-question-1#post-1488222 Wed, 12 Mar 2014 05:14:20 +0000 mjane 1488222@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Chipmunk: I'm confused. You same to be saying something different than @danda: </p> <p>You say: The reapplication does not give them an additional 180 minutes of protection.</p> <p>@danda: says: Then the reapplication would help give you another 150 minutes. </p> <p>I know anecdotes are only so useful, but I am very fair and burn easily (like within 15 minutes) but in using barrier (i.e. zinc oxide-based) sunscreens I've been able to stave off burns by reapplying frequently. I realize I can't see invisible sun damage, but I'm definitely *not* burning. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sunscreen-question-1#post-1488139 Tue, 11 Mar 2014 23:12:23 +0000 Mrs. Chipmunk 1488139@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrs. pen @FRONKINZANKINSBRIDE ok, i'll work on one :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sunscreen-question-1#post-1488111 Tue, 11 Mar 2014 22:35:32 +0000 Fronkinzankinsbride 1488111@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>So much information. My brain is spinning. I really think you should write a blog post about this! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sunscreen-question-1#post-1488096 Tue, 11 Mar 2014 22:18:36 +0000 Mrs. Chipmunk 1488096@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>This is new to me, from wikipedia: </p> <p>Contrary to the common advice that sunscreen should be reapplied every 2–3 hours, research has shown that the best protection is achieved by dividing the SPF number in half and reapplying that many minutes after sun exposure begins. For example, if the SPF is 30, sunscreen should be reapplied once after 15 minutes of exposure. Further reapplication is only necessary after activities such as swimming, sweating, or rubbing/wiping.[60]<br /> More recent research at the University of California, Riverside, indicates that sunscreen must be reapplied within two hours in order to remain effective. Not reapplying could even cause more cell damage than not using sunscreen at all, due to the release of extra free radicals from those sunscreen chemicals that were absorbed into the skin.[48] Some studies have shown that people commonly apply only 1/2 to 1/4 of the amount recommended to achieve the rated sun protection factor (SPF), and in consequence the effective SPF should be downgraded to a square or 4th root of the advertised value.[61] </p> <p>I don't know how the time "resets" for let's say, the next day. I would imagine that because the sunscreen itself is absorbing the UV rays, you have to wait out perhaps 7 half lives of the UV rays themselves to be gone. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sunscreen-question-1#post-1488074 Tue, 11 Mar 2014 22:08:22 +0000 Mrs. Pen 1488074@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Chipmunk: mind. Blown.<br /> Maybe you should write a post on this ;) thanks for the info. I also second @Fronkinzankinsbride's question. What do you have to do to then reset it. Go inside for say two hours, shower, reapply?... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sunscreen-question-1#post-1488027 Tue, 11 Mar 2014 21:36:24 +0000 Fronkinzankinsbride 1488027@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>This is so confusing. How do you reset your time then? By going inside? Then magically you have another 180 minutes or whatever? Do you have to have a certain amount of non-exposure? Wow, I always thought it extended the amount of time... but this does explain why I've gotten burned even when reapplying frequently. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sunscreen-question-1#post-1488004 Tue, 11 Mar 2014 21:27:30 +0000 Mrs. Chipmunk 1488004@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I know - it goes against common sense, and in university when we learned this, we had a hard time believing it.</p> <p>@t.h.o.u. yes, 60 more minutes and you burn. </p> <p>Myth 10: re-applying sunscreen lets you stay in the sun longer<br /> We are always advised to reapply sunscreen regularly. What is not always fully explained is that this reapplication is only to maintain the effectiveness of the initial application of sunscreen. Reapplying sunscreen does not prolong the amount of time you can stay in the sun. For example, if a sunscreen provides a particular person with 180 minutes of protection and they reapply it after 120 minutes, they still only have a further 60 minutes of protection left. The reapplication does not give them an additional 180 minutes of protection.<br /> <a href="http://www.womhealth.org.au/healthy-lifestyle/60-sunscreen-myths" rel="nofollow">http://www.womhealth.org.au/healthy-lifestyle/60-sunscreen-myths</a></p> <p>what @DANDA said is correct. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sunscreen-question-1#post-1487897 Tue, 11 Mar 2014 20:36:13 +0000 danda 1487897@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@T.H.O.U.: @Mrs. Chipmunk: I'm a scientist and I've actually sat in on a lecture about the science of sunscreen by someone who develops sunscreen for a living.</p> <p>If applied perfectly (which most people don't do...most people put too little on, and then it gets rubbed or washed off as well...) the SPF does provide a multiplier. If you would burn in 10 min, proper application of the proper quantity of SPF 30 sunscreen would give you 300 minutes to burn. Since it does usually get worn off and often enough isn't used, that SPF 30 might only give you, say, 150 minutes until you burn because it isn't perfect application. Then the reapplication would help give you another 150 minutes. Make sense?</p> <p>With that said, there's nothing magical about that 149th minute in which you would burn...it's a gradual process to get from tan to burn, unless you've been doing something like swimming where more sunscreen has come off, so keep it in mind, apply more sunscreen than you think, and reapply often! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sunscreen-question-1#post-1487781 Tue, 11 Mar 2014 19:53:24 +0000 T.H.O.U. 1487781@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@rahlyrah: I think the point is that adding two layers of SPF 30 does not give you an SPF of 60. But again, the whole point of reapplying is so that you can stay protected longer (again, assuming it has worn off). </p> <p>Tell me this situation isn't true:<br /> SPF 30 is applied and that gives you a hypothetical 300 minute burn time. You lay out in the sun for 4 hours (or 240 minutes into your burn time) and then go swimming (assuming the sunscreen is now washed/worn off). You re-apply SPF 30 as a full new application (meaning you use the right amount and cover all areas). Do you now burn in the next 60 minutes (remainder of time until "burn time")? </p> <p>Of course not, the protection has been reapplied and the clock reset and you get up to another 300 minutes in the sun before you burn. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sunscreen-question-1#post-1487763 Tue, 11 Mar 2014 19:45:31 +0000 Ra 1487763@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Chipmunk: I did not know that! Interesting! </p> <p>@T.H.O.U.: I looked it up to verify: <a href="http://news.psu.edu/story/141338/2010/06/01/research/probing-question-what-does-spf-rating-sunscreen-mean" rel="nofollow">http://news.psu.edu/story/141338/2010/06/01/research/probing-question-what-does-spf-rating-sunscreen-mean</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sunscreen-question-1#post-1487761 Tue, 11 Mar 2014 19:45:22 +0000 T.H.O.U. 1487761@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Chipmunk: well that just doesn't make ANY sense. Everyone knows you need to reapply, like you states because it gets absorbed, rubbed off,etc and that allows you to stay in the sun longer. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sunscreen-question-1#post-1487746 Tue, 11 Mar 2014 19:40:05 +0000 Mrs. Chipmunk 1487746@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@T.H.O.U. i learned in school that it doesn't reset the burn time.... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sunscreen-question-1#post-1487728 Tue, 11 Mar 2014 19:33:47 +0000 BananaPancakes 1487728@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>As someone who is super pale and who has lived in Florida her entire life, I can tell you that applying far more lotion than you think you need is key. I also apply every hour, wear a Columbia SPF shirt and a hat, and won't spend more than 2 hours in the sun at a time. I apply the same principals to my kid because he seems to have similar skin and put it on while he's naked before we leave the house. .SPF 30 is good and we use California Baby, too. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sunscreen-question-1#post-1487707 Tue, 11 Mar 2014 19:22:23 +0000 swedishfish 1487707@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Pepper: where are the pictures of C on vacation?! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sunscreen-question-1#post-1487703 Tue, 11 Mar 2014 19:21:42 +0000 swedishfish 1487703@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@T.H.O.U.: that's how I'm reading it as well. :happy: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sunscreen-question-1#post-1487689 Tue, 11 Mar 2014 19:15:15 +0000 T.H.O.U. 1487689@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Chipmunk: ok fair. But it does reset your burn time by reapplying. Again if an SPF 15 lets you stay out for a total of 300 minutes and after 120 minutes (2 hours) you assume it's worn off and you re-apply then from that new point forward you have an additional 300 minutes of protection. Again same "time to burn" but the clock resets when you reapply.</p> <p> I just want to make sure no one is confused and thinks you don't need to reapply because that is one of the biggest mistakes people make with sun care. @Pepper: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sunscreen-question-1#post-1487235 Tue, 11 Mar 2014 15:31:12 +0000 Pepper 1487235@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Chipmunk: That's interesting, I always thought if you reapplied you were protected for longer!</p> <p>Thanks for the recommendations! I used the 30 and he sat in a tent for 90% of the time. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sunscreen-question-1#post-1486687 Tue, 11 Mar 2014 12:49:51 +0000 Mrs. Chipmunk 1486687@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@T.H.O.U. reapplying *doesn't* reset the time to burn, so whether you reapply every 30 minutes, or don't reapply at all and don't sweat it off, you will still burn in the same amount of time.</p> <p>"A sunscreen’s SPF number is calculated by comparing the time needed for a person to burn unprotected with how long it takes for that person to burn wearing sunscreen. So a person who turns red after 20 minutes of unprotected sun exposure is theoretically protected 15 times longer if they adequately apply SPF 15. Because a lot of sunscreens rub off or don’t stay put, dermatologists advise reapplication every two hours or after swimming or sweating."</p> <p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/14/fashion/14SKIN.html?pagewanted=all&#038;_r=0" rel="nofollow">http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/14/fashion/14SKIN.html?pagewanted=all&#038;_r=0</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sunscreen-question-1#post-1486592 Tue, 11 Mar 2014 12:22:14 +0000 T.H.O.U. 1486592@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@looch: Good question, I always assumed both, but may not be true for mineral. In the end, we always applied early just so that it had time to soak in before getting rubbed off by sand and water. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sunscreen-question-1#post-1486585 Tue, 11 Mar 2014 12:21:01 +0000 looch 1486585@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Is the activation period true with a mineral sunscreen, or is that only chemical? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sunscreen-question-1#post-1486583 Tue, 11 Mar 2014 12:20:59 +0000 T.H.O.U. 1486583@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Chipmunk: I don't get what you are saying? Can you explain? When you re-apply, it "resets" your time to burn. So yes, it gives you more time in the sun before burning? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sunscreen-question-1#post-1486572 Tue, 11 Mar 2014 12:18:53 +0000 Mrs. Chipmunk 1486572@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Reapplying only helps what sweats off or gets washed off in water, it does not make it last longer. If you take 3 minutes to burn, SPF 30 will delay that thirty times, so 90 minutes to burn. It doesn't matter how thick you put it on or how many times you reapply, you will burn after ninety minutes.</p> <p>Lightweight long clothing and is a good bet as a physical barrier, as is zinc cream, but it will stay white on the skin. Wide brimmed hat and sunscreen or zinc on the face for sure </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sunscreen-question-1#post-1486471 Tue, 11 Mar 2014 11:53:43 +0000 mrs.shinerbock 1486471@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>As someone with very fair skin, I second putting it on early. It take sunscreen about 30 min to fully activate. I put mine on before I put my swimsuit or clothes on to make sure I get everything. Reapply every 2 hours and after you get LO out of the water. </p> <p>Current experts are saying anything over 30 SPF is only marginally more<br /> effective as 30 anyway, so it's better to stick with 30 and not get lulled into thinking you don't need to reapply. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sunscreen-question-1#post-1486442 Tue, 11 Mar 2014 11:47:27 +0000 T.H.O.U. 1486442@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>30 is good but you'll want to re-apply VERY frequently (like every 2 hours). </p> <p>Make sure you apply before you get in the sun so it has a chance to soak in. When we were on our beach vacation, I actually lotioned her up in the room while she was naked to make sure I got all the spots without reaching under a swim suit or diaper. I put it on really thick and let it soak in. From there I just reapplied. </p>