What You Need To Know About SPF

Every day there’s a headline about how fill-in-the-blank is wrecking your skin. Your phone? Maybe. The sun? Definitely. Your sunscreen? Probably not. We delve behind the chatter...

- Deanna Pai

1 The myth Consistent sunscreen use prevents you from getting your daily dose of vitamin D from good ol’ sunshine. The real deal This is sort of true. Our bodies produce vit D when UVB rays react with our skin and, as we all know, sunscreen blocks UVB light. But before you run outside sans SPF, know this: you only need a few minutes of sun exposure mid-morning to make enough vitamin D in our Aussie summer. So, as dermatologist Emmy Graber, tells us, “You shouldn’t skip sunscreen in an attempt to get vitamin D.” There are also other ways to soak up the crucial vitamin. It ’s available in a few foods – such as fish (salmon and mackerel) and egg yolk – or supps that contains the recommended daily value of 600 IU. If you’re worried about a deficiency, which can result in loss of bone density, your GP can check your levels. 2 The myth

Certain chemical sun blockers in sunscreens, such as butyl methoxy dibenzoylmethane, can break down into toxic particles and mess with hormones.

The real deal