Don't Be a Fry Baby: SPF and new FDA Ruling Explained
Protect your skin. Jane Iredale shares a primer for SPF ratings and how the FDA's final sunscreen ruling affects product claims.
How could something that feels so good, be so bad for your skin? Sad, but true. The sun may warm our bodies and lift our spirits, but it's also the common cause of premature aging and at least two types of skin cancer. Because it's better to be safe than sorry, Jane Iredale shares some pertinent information about sunscreen products and label claims.
Sun Protection Factor (SPF) indicates how long it will take for UVB rays to redden your skin when you use a sun-protection product, compared to how long the skin would take to redden without the product. So, the SPF number gives you some idea of how long you can stay in the sun without buing. For example, if you normally bu in 10 minutes without sunscreen and you've applied a liberal dose of sunscreen with an SPF number of 15, you should be protected from sunbu for 150 minutes. However, this does not mean that you are protected from other radiation damage. A broad spectrum sunscreen is required to give protection in the UVA range as well. Important: An SPF rating does not measure Ultraviolet A (UVA) protection.
What else you should know: The FDA final ruling on the labeling and testing of sunscreen products does not permit the labeling of sunscreen as “waterproof" or "sweatproof," and only allows “water resistance” claims if the sunscreen remains effective for 40 or 80 minutes while swimming or sweating. The new testing techniques have resulted in a 40-minute designation for Jane Iredale products.