Today Tonight - Finding the right sunscreen

ARTICLE: Thursday 3rd January 2007 

Today Tonight - Channel 7

Most Australians love to soak up the rays hoping for a great summer tan. But, while it may look healthy, it can pose a real health risk.

In fact, Australia has the highest rate of skin cancer in the world.

Now with literally hundreds of new sunscreens available, boasting all sorts of protection and benefits it's vital to know which will protect us the most.

We should always wear sunscreen outdoors to guard against the harsh Australian sun, but certain ones with the latest prevention technology and fantastic ingredients, work far better than others and some won't work at all.

So how do you choose the best one for you from the hundreds of different types on the market?

We asked Dermatologist, Dr Natasha Cook to recommend her best sunscreens for the face and the body, for everyday protection, also for the beach and sport. We also asked her advice on just how to apply them for top results.

"Your best investment in your skin care to prevent against ageing is a good sunscreen," Dr Cook said.

"It's all that little bit of sun you are getting every day, that cumulative damage that in the end is going to give you problems, not only with cancer but pigmentation, broken capillaries and that sallow, chicken-skin appearance which is very hard to rectify once it comes so you need to prevent it."

"You should be aiming to buy an SPF 30 plus, because they are not going to be as good as your 15, 10 or any thing lower than that. Under Australian standards the 30 plus could be anything from 30 to 120, so you are actually getting a lot of protection from that," she added.

Then look for active ingredients, zinc and/or titanium - they are physical blockers that reflect the sun from our skin, essential for sunscreen to work.

These days zinc, nanonized zinc or zinc oxide is invisible, the cricketer's white stripe is old-hat.

Cancer Council Australia's Anita Teng says make sure you get UVA and UVB protection, ultra violet A penetrates the top layer of skin which can lead to malignant skin cancer, melanomas, as well as sunburn, sagginess, blotchiness and reduction of collagen radiation. Ultra violet B causes sunburn, ageing skin, wrinkles and yellow or brown spots.

"Almost 400,000 people a year in Australia are diagnosed with some form of skin cancer and over 1500 a year are dying from skin cancer," Anita said.

"All the labels on sunscreens will tell you what ingredients there are.

"It should be water resistant and it should say it's broad spectrum which means it deals with both types of ultraviolet radiation," Anita added.

Dr Natasha Cook's 4 top BODY sunscreens all contain zinc or titanium or both, are 30+, broad spectrum and water-resistant:

Ego Sun Sense Sport Milk;
UV Triplegard Everyday Lotion;
Priceline Sun Sport;
Cancer Council's Classic Sunscreen.

For your face, Dr Cookâ??s top 3 sunscreens that won't block pores:

Shiseido Gentle Sun Protection Lotion;
Invisible Zinc New Generation Suncare by Ganehill;
Hamilton Everyday Face light moisturising Cream.

And what most people don't know, use lots.

"If you don't put enough on of your sunscreen, your protection will go from 30+ down to something like a 6," Dr Cook said.

Anita Teng said: "You need actually about a teaspoon per limb and we know a lot of people aren't actually using near that.

"The other thing is that to make it work the best, you should put it on before you go outdoors to let it bind into your skin before it needs to work and you should reapply every couple of hours."

Dr Cook says her morning routine of moisturiser and sunscreen on the face, neck chest, and other exposed areas, takes time.

"After you've cleansed and moisturised, make sure you get a nice, thick, even consistency with your sunscreen, leave it for 15 minutes and let it soak in," she said.

"It can take 20 to 30 minutes because you need to give yourself 10 to 15 minutes for it to absorb, re-massage it in and then put your makeup on over the top of your sunscreen.

"It is great to invest in a makeup or a powder makeup that has SPF in it to finish off your protection which will also enhance your look, minimise the sheen that can occur with some sunscreens and give you a nice even look and provide you with additional protection," Dr Cook said.

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