Top Rated Sunscreens

Back when we were puffing away on cigarettes and eating steak wrapped with bacon that was drenched with salt and potatoes fried in lard or bacon grease, a nice, dark tan was considered a sign of good health. Now we know that all of the above things will kill you if you do too much of them. In the future, it will probably be discovered that they are in reality good for you.

Back in the 1940's, Coppertone tanning lotion was invented. It darkened the tan that you got when you laid out in the sun, but it didn't do very much to protect you from the sun's harmful UV rays. But even though a lot of people followed the sun back then and got deep dark tans, skin cancer wasn't epidemic. Scientists think that the reason for that was the earth's ozone layer prevented a lot of the harmful rays from getting through.

Today, we have damaged the ozone layer so much by using fluorocarbons that there is a big hole in it. That means more damaging rays get through to our skin and our chances of getting skin cancer is on the rise as well as the number of diagnosed cases. One form of skin cancer is easily treated and not often fatal, but the second type can be deadly.

A friend of mine (let's call him Beach Boy) used to use a "tan intensifier." The advertisement for this product said that it acted like "thousands of little prisms" that intensified the effects of the sun.

He got a really dark tan from it but eventually he developed keloids. Keloids are patches of scar tissue that form when there is damage to the skin and his was definitely damaged. He finally gave up his search for the perfect tan after he had to get the scar tissue surgically removed.

To block the harmful rays of the sun, we invented sunscreen, or sunblock. There are two different types of sunscreen. One type works by using chemicals like titanium oxide to reflect some of the UV light from the sun, while others use organic molecules that absorb the light.

Adults should use a sunscreen with an SPF factor of at least 30 or higher and children should use one with a 50 SPF. You should try to avoid being out in the sun during the time when the rays are most damaging and that time is noon. According to WebMD, here are some of the best sunscreen products out there:

"Three sunscreens were given the Consumer Reports "Best Buy" rating:
Up & Up Sport SPF 30
No-Ad with Aloe and Vitamin E SPF 45
Equate Baby SPF 50

Some other sunscreens that were ranked high include: Banana Boat Sport Performance SPF 30, Coppertone Sport Ultra Sweatproof SPF 30, and CVS Fast Cover Sport SPF 30.

Source: http://www.webmd.com/skin-beauty/news/20110524/9-sunscreens-get-top-ratings-by-consumer-reports