Putting sun cream on your children is not up for negotiation. If they’re out in the sun, they need to be wearing sun cream. Simple.
But even then, you might not be protecting them as well as you first thought.
- The first thing to be aware of is that the ‘Factor’ number isn’t necessarily the primary piece of information you should look at. Instead, take note of the UVA star rating, usually found on the back of the packaging. This UVA star rating is also a really important piece important measurement to take note of.In can be misleading however…
For example: Some of the top level brands that you pay top dollar for, don’t always have the highest UVA star rating. You can spend a lot of money on the brand you believe to be the most reputable, yet they have a poorer UVA rating than the supermarket own brands.
Factor 50+ with a UVA rating of 4 stars
Factor 20 with a UVA rating of 5 stars
It’s also not uncommon for the high ‘Factor’ sun creams to have lower UVA ratings. We purchased a Factor 50 suncream thinking it would offer the most protection, yet the Factor 20 we also have already, in fact, offers a better UVA star rating.
- Did you know that sun cream can go out of date? Making it less effective! Me neither.The NHS recommends that sun cream has a shelf life of 2-3 years, however, it’s not quite that simple. This recommendation is on the condition that the sun cream is not stored at a too high temperature and it’s out of direct sunlight.Many of us get the suncream back out the cupboard from last year – granted, it may have been out of direct sunlight for that time but I’d have no guarantee that the temperature was sufficiently cool enough.
None the less, all sun cream packets have an expiry date, and that’s the date you should really take note of. Something else I didn’t know! A top tip is to write the date on the bottle when you open it, in permanent marker. That way you’ll know it’s safe to use when the UK weather decides to throw some sun at us again and you get it back out the cupboard!
6 Month Expiry Date
12 Month Expiry Date
Protecting our children is our number 1 priority in life. That includes protecting them from sunburn. I had no idea that the sun cream I was putting on Ted might not be as effective as I first thought.
