I realized summer is here when my son came home last night from a 5:30pm soccer practice with a slightly sunburned face.  So today, I stocked the house. I found that the more convenient the sunscreen, the more likely it is to be applied. There’s a bottle in each car, in all the bathrooms, on the garage shelf, in the kitchen, and in a basket on the back porch. So forgetting is no excuse!

The SPF labeling can be confusing. Most of us assume more is better, but lately I’ve read that it doesn’t make much of a difference once you head over 30. And SPF only refers to UVB protection. UVB rays are blamed for sunburns and some skin cancers.

We also need to protect our skin against UVA rays, which penetrate more deeply than UVB and are believed to cause the visible aging that makes us regret our early sunbathing years. Newer ingredients such as oxtylcrylene, benxophenones and avobenzone protect against UVA rays.  So a “broad-spectrum” sunscreen (which would include some of those ingredients) with an SPF of 15 or higher is your best bet.

The next most important recommendation is to make sure you are putting enough on. Yohini Appa, the senior director of scientific affairs at Johnson & Johnson, told the New York Times that if you only apply half of the recommended amount of sunscreen, then you are only getting half the protection!