4 ms·

It's impossible, essentially every accessible brand has some products test way below advertised On the other hand, if your product said it was 50 and it tested

It's impossible, essentially every accessible brand has some products test way below advertised On the other hand, if your product said it was 50 and it tested 30, the practical difference isn't actually that big. Our parents did ok with spf5

geerlingguy 1y ago
Heh, we didn't always wear sunscreen until I was in my teens... my skin does not thank me. We do SPF50 or 100 on the kids (and us, of course). I think besides shady products, a lot of them are too hard to apply evenly, so you either spend 10 minutes trying to get it to spread, or you look funny with white smears here and there.
- OneMorePerson 1y ago
  If you look into advice from non-manufacturers (some other groups who are a bit less biased) it's widely recommended to max out at SPF 30, because any higher means sunscreen is harder to re-apply (meaning psychologically you are likely to not re-apply as often as needed) and also because it really doesn't make a difference unless you are ultra sensitive and have some kind of skin condition.
  - mvdtnz 1y ago
    > it's widely recommended to max out at SPF 30, You're going to have to bring some receipts for a claim like that. I have never seen such a recommendation, ever.
    - OneMorePerson 1y ago
      I can't remember where I first heard it but here's a few links. https://www.ewg.org/sunscreen/report/whats-wrong-with-high-spf/ https://www.ewg.org/sunscreen/report/whats-wrong-with-high-s... https://www.mdacne.com/article/why-spf-30-is-better-than-spf-50?srsltid=AfmBOooBRryPui62355zhP9jxEnVvdYYD4VDW9zNpGPKGFCHO0FSW0L0 https://www.mdacne.com/article/why-spf-30-is-better-than-spf... This one (https://www.skincancer.org/blog/ask-the-expert-does-a-high-spf-protect-my-skin-better/ https://www.skincancer.org/blog/ask-the-expert-does-a-high-s...) doesn't directly say its better or worse, but alludes to the idea that when you combine the various factors there's definite cons to SPF 50. Potentially I slightly overstated, what I intended to say was "there's clear reasons why SPF 30 would be preferable in many/most cases". If you are a pale white person who is hiking through the Sahara with no hat SPF 50 might be the way to go.
      - mvdtnz 1y ago
        First link is some political organisation. Second link is a company that sells SPF 30 sunscreen. Third link doesn't even say what you're claiming.
  - tehjoker 1y ago
    Using higher SPF can help cover for thin application
stevage 1y ago
Don't know where your parents grew up or how ok they are. In Australia, many boomers have skin cancer, and that was before the hole in the ozone layer made things much worse.
- OneMorePerson 1y ago
  Did they actually apply sunscreen? Or is there a big divide between people who at least tried (something like SPF 15) vs those that just didn't wear any?

geerlingguy 1y ago

Heh, we didn't always wear sunscreen until I was in my teens... my skin does not thank me. We do SPF50 or 100 on the kids (and us, of course). I think besides shady products, a lot of them are too hard to apply evenly, so you either spend 10 minutes trying to get it to spread, or you look funny with white smears here and there.

OneMorePerson 1y ago
If you look into advice from non-manufacturers (some other groups who are a bit less biased) it's widely recommended to max out at SPF 30, because any higher means sunscreen is harder to re-apply (meaning psychologically you are likely to not re-apply as often as needed) and also because it really doesn't make a difference unless you are ultra sensitive and have some kind of skin condition.
- mvdtnz 1y ago
  > it's widely recommended to max out at SPF 30, You're going to have to bring some receipts for a claim like that. I have never seen such a recommendation, ever.
  - OneMorePerson 1y ago
    I can't remember where I first heard it but here's a few links. https://www.ewg.org/sunscreen/report/whats-wrong-with-high-spf/ https://www.ewg.org/sunscreen/report/whats-wrong-with-high-s... https://www.mdacne.com/article/why-spf-30-is-better-than-spf-50?srsltid=AfmBOooBRryPui62355zhP9jxEnVvdYYD4VDW9zNpGPKGFCHO0FSW0L0 https://www.mdacne.com/article/why-spf-30-is-better-than-spf... This one (https://www.skincancer.org/blog/ask-the-expert-does-a-high-spf-protect-my-skin-better/ https://www.skincancer.org/blog/ask-the-expert-does-a-high-s...) doesn't directly say its better or worse, but alludes to the idea that when you combine the various factors there's definite cons to SPF 50. Potentially I slightly overstated, what I intended to say was "there's clear reasons why SPF 30 would be preferable in many/most cases". If you are a pale white person who is hiking through the Sahara with no hat SPF 50 might be the way to go.
    - mvdtnz 1y ago
      First link is some political organisation. Second link is a company that sells SPF 30 sunscreen. Third link doesn't even say what you're claiming.
- tehjoker 1y ago
  Using higher SPF can help cover for thin application

stevage 1y ago

Don't know where your parents grew up or how ok they are. In Australia, many boomers have skin cancer, and that was before the hole in the ozone layer made things much worse.

OneMorePerson 1y ago
Did they actually apply sunscreen? Or is there a big divide between people who at least tried (something like SPF 15) vs those that just didn't wear any?