a personal site

I don’t think anyone is using the recommended amount of sunscreen

When I first got into skincare a few years ago, I read a lot about sunscreen. And despite any potential conspiracy by Big Skin™, sunscreen is pretty magical stuff.1

As part of that research, I also learned how much sunscreen people “should” be wearing. And reader, let me tell you: I do not think anyone is using the recommended amount of sunscreen.

Sunscreen manufacturer Neutrogena recommends a “golf-ball sized amount” every 2 hours.2 The American Academy of Dermatologists recommends “enough to fill a shot glass.”3 And the NHS recommends 6-8 teaspoons.4

All of these recommendations equal about an ounce of sunscreen applied every 2 hours during peak sun exposure (~11am-3pm).5 That’s at least two ounces a day of sunscreen. I do not believe anyone I have ever met in my life is wearing that much sunscreen.

Have you checked how much sunscreen is in most bottles of sunscreen? It’s usually 5-8 ounces.

By the recommendations, we should all be buying and using at least a bottle of this stuff every single week.

No one is wearing that much sunscreen.

And don't even get me started on spray-on sunscreen.6

Do you wear the recommended amount of sunscreen and want to argue with me about it? Email me!

  1. First, scare yourself about skin aging with this article. Then, check out this study on the anti-aging properties of sunscreen.↩

  2. https://www.neutrogena.com/the-bar/how-to-apply-sunscreen↩

  3. https://www.aad.org/media/stats-sunscreen↩

  4. https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/seasonal-health/sunscreen-and-sun-safety/↩

  5. Some US agencies define this as 10am-4pm. That would mean even more sunscreen, closer to three ounces a day.↩

  6. The recommendation is four passes back and forth for each bit of exposed skin. If you use spray-on sunscreen I do not believe you are doing that.↩