Even in the winter, we should all be wearing SPF to protect our skin from UVA and UVB rays. But there are many types of products that can keep our skin safe from the harmful sun rays – moisturizers with SPF, sunblock, sunscreen -, some are water-resistant, others are broad-spectrum… What does all of that mean? Which product should we be using every day?

Table Summary

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Definitions

Sunscreen absorbs and scatters UVA and UVB rays before they penetrate the skin. Containing ingredients such as avobenzone, octocrylene, homosalate, octisalate, octinoxate, and oxybenzone, sunscreen has to be reapplied more often and given more time to seep into our pores before sun exposure.

Sunblock sits on top of our skin and blocks the sunrays by reflecting them. Using ingredients such as zinc oxide and  titanium dioxide, sunblock becomes a physical barrier between the skin and the harmful rays, making it more effective than sunscreen but also harder to rub in completely.

Sunscreen VS Sunblock

Most products nowadays are named “sunscreen”, even if they contain zinc oxide and/or titanium dioxide. This is because the FDA outlawed the term “sunblock” in 2013 because they thought the word might give a false sense of security and encourage people to spend too much time in the sun after the protection had won off. Sunscreen – that is, a product with avobenzone, octocrylene, homosalate, octisalate, octinoxate, and oxybenzone in its composition – has to be reapplied more often than sunblock.