It’s Not The Number As Much As The Frequency

Summer is almost here and today in the Daily Mail I got confirmed something I have always suspected.  Sunscreens with SPF of over 100 are 'gimmicks', experts warn, as new labeling rules fail to address 'misleading' claims

Marianne Berwick, professor of epidemiology at the University of New Mexico.'says, "the high SPF numbers are just a gimmick,'"

and "Most people really don't need more than an SPF 30 and they should reapply it every couple of hours."

Berwick says sunscreen should be used in combination with hats, clothing and shade, which provide better protection against ultraviolet radiation.

To date the rules from the Food and Drug Administration ban terms like 'waterproof,' which regulators consider misleading, and require that sunscreens filter out both ultraviolet A and B rays.

Despite that broader protection, many consumers assume that SPF 100 is twice as effective as SPF 50, but dermatologists say the difference between the two is actually negligible. Where an SPF 50 product might protect against 97per cent of sunburn-causing rays, an SPF 100 product might block 98.5per cent of those rays.