A skin-cautious holiday comes on Sunscreen Day, celebrated every year on May 27. This day raises awareness for sunscreen products and their valuable benefits to our skin and overall well-being. Sunscreen has been around since the early 1900s and contains sun protection factor (S.P.F.), which was discovered shortly after.
Sunscreens are also called sunblocks or suntan lotions and come in a variety of forms such as cream, sprays, gels, sticks, and even powder. These topical products are applied to our skin to minimize the harsh effects of the sun’s ultraviolet (U.V.) rays. This day raises awareness for the photoprotective qualities of sunscreen.
Sunscreen and its benefits are gradually becoming widespread knowledge with the growth of skin-protection products in the already saturated skincare industry. If you haven’t used it before, you may have come across it, heard about it, or watched a commercial or two centered around it. In any way, we are sure you have a small idea of what this photoprotective product is.
As we mentioned earlier, sunscreen is a photoprotective skincare product. In basic terms, this very essential product is used on the skin to protect it from damages caused by sunlight, usually by ultraviolet (U.V.) rays, like aging and skin cancer. It is a topical product, meaning it is applied to particular areas on the surface of our skin — areas most exposed to sunlight.
We know after hearing all this ‘sunlight’ talk, you may assume sunscreen is only for those really hot, extra sunny days, or even more specifically, days at the beach. This couldn’t be further from the truth. No matter the weather — hot, warm, cold, or even really cold — the sun always comes out. This means there is always the presence of U.V. rays, although the intensity may vary. Therefore, you should never leave the house without your sunscreen.
Sunscreen was first created in the 1930s by Australian chemist H.A. Milton Blake and its U.V-protection qualities were verified by the University of Adelaide. Before that, early civilizations would use plant products such as olive oil, jasmine, rice, or Zinc oxide pastes to protect their skin from sun rays.
S.P.F. was discovered several decades later thanks to Franz Greiter, and it has now become the standard for measuring U.V. protection. Sunscreen Protection Day was created to raise awareness of the essential and protective qualities of sunscreen.
