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Bondi Media

Bondi 🌞 Sunscreen 🧴 Sun Smart

We've all seen people on the sand of beautiful Bondi Beach who have had way too much sun in their lives — leather men 'oldalls and lobster red women. Those from Brasil and warmer climes not withstanding, the sun ☀️ here is not meant for non Indigenous skin! But, how do you best protect yourself from the sun's anvil Down Under and its cancer-causing ultraviolet (UV) rays?

The days of zinc cream tinted nippers may be over but 21st century punters have a wide selection of sunscreen options, including: foams, hydrating serums, sprays, gels, mousses etc. And the good thing (apart from any protection, obviously) is that they are regulated in Australia by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) — which isn't the case in many other countries — so check if the product you're buying is compliant.

Plus, skin doctors (aka dermatologists) have also confirmed that you should wear sunscreen whenever out and about in our harsh antipodean landscape — meaning sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of 50+ is required!

SPF measures how well a sunscreen protects skin from sunburn — it does this using a scale for the time it takes for redness/burn to appear on skin as compared to when no sunscreen is used. So …

If it takes 10 minutes for unprotected skin to burn/turn red, then SPF50 sunscreen might take 50x longer (i.e., 8.5 hours) to burn. Accordingly 50+ is better than 30+ — and you'll age better!

Types of Sunscreen

  1. Physical like zinc cream which reflect the sun's harmful UV rays.
  2. Chemical sunscreens which absorb light and convert it into heat.

Using either type of sunscreen (along with covering clothing and shade favouring) can lower the risk of melanoma — the most dangerous skin cancer.

Sunscreens considered to be therapeutic goods are regulated in Australia to ensure their safety, quality and efficacy. The majority are listed medicines with an AUST L identification number. TGA Search.