Find out what those numbers on your sunscreen mean

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Home: What does SPF mean?

What does SPF mean?

SPF is measured as the amount of time you can stay in the sun before burning. It stands for Sun Protection Factor, and is usually associated with sunscreen. The number on the bottle is the length of time you can stay in direct sunlight before you start to burn, as opposed to the time it takes to burn with no protection at all.

How long is that? First of all, you have to know your skin type. Most people (unfortunately) know how long it takes for them to burn. If you have very fair skin, it might only take 5 minutes. If you’re dark, it would take about twenty minutes. So, if you have very sensitive skin, you will need an SPF sunscreen of at least 12 to safety play in the sun for 1 hour (60 minutes divided by the 5 minutes it takes for you to burn). Since you will probably want to stay out for a few hours, it would be wise to use an SPF of 30 to 45. If you plan to swim a lot or play sports, you should reapply your sunscreen throughout the day, as they are not fully waterproof.

This chart gives you a general idea of what strength of sunscreen to put on:

 

1 Hour

2 Hours

3 Hours

4+ Hours

very fair skin
- always burns, never tans
SPF
15
SPF
30
SPF
30
SPF
50
fair skin
- burns easily, slowly tans
SPF
15
SPF
30
SPF
30
SPF
50
light skin
- gradual tan
SPF
8
SPF
15
SPF
15
SPF
30
dark skin
- tans well
SPF
4
SPF
8
SPF
8
SPF
15
very dark skin
- easily tans, rarely burns
SPF
4
SPF
4
SPF
4
SPF
8