Summers are here for most of India and with it the struggle to protect your skin from the harmful rays of the sun. Selecting a sunscreen is not enough since the art of selecting the best kind goes way beyond that. Here are some easy steps to find out what suits you best:
Go for a sunscreen that is not more than SPF 30, if you are trying out a chemical sunscreen. If it works, you can try increasing the number for greater coverage.
It’s important to identify your skin type since you can have dry skin in the most humid places and oily skin in the most cold places. For oily skin, start with a mineral sunscreen. For dry skin, the best options are ones that moisturise while protecting from harmful UV rays.
If you feel that your sunscreen is very heavy on your skin, avoid using sunscreen right after you step out of the shower, or right after you wash your face. The skin’s moisture tends to get trapped under the sunscreen and this can give you a heavy feel.
If you are mostly going to be indoors, you will need a broad-spectrum sunscreen that covers both UVA and UVB. So best would be to use a tinted one, or one containing antioxidants that can specifically protect you from blue light-induced skin ageing and pigmentation.
If you are going to be outdoors, and are very likely to sweat, you need a high SPF protection. You can use a 40 SPF sunscreen fluid or even a 50 SPF sunscreen to protect you from direct sunlight.
If you are at home, but exposed to a lot of heat from cooking, you need a sunscreen with infrared spectrum protection. Look for sunscreen features that specifically mention if the sunscreen is likely to protect you from infrared ray-induced skin pigmentation.
If you have skin pigmentation conditions like melasma, the best option would be a broad-spectrum sunscreen which can protect you from UVB, UVA1, UVA2, HEVL and IR.
If you are acne-prone, look for sunscreens that are labelled as non-comedogenic and are suitable for sensitive skin since your skin easily has breakouts.