Do You Need to Use Sunscreen for Your Face Even at Home? Here’s What You Need to Know:

This pandemic has caused us to limit ourselves from going out – we all work and study at home nowadays. As a result, most of us are less religious to do our skincare routine, including using facial sunscreen. Find out what skipping sunscreen does to your face.

UV rays and their dangers to one’s skin

 

Before talking about facial sunscreens, let’s educate ourselves about UV (ultraviolet) rays that come from the sun. UV rays come in three types: UVA, UVB, and UVC. UVC rays are absorbed by the ozone layer so they do not reach the Earth's surface. 

 

For humans, the benefit of UV rays is to help the process of producing Vitamin D in the body; At the same time, these UV rays have an effect on the body, especially on our faces.

 

UVA rays: These rays can enter the middle layer of the skin (dermis), triggering the appearance of premature aging such as fine lines, wrinkles, dark spots, and rough skin texture. UVA rays can even cause cancer with long-term exposure.

 

UVB rays: The effects of UVB rays are felt on the surface layer of the skin, characterized by skin that turns red when one gets sunburnt. Although UVB rays have shorter wavelengths than UVA rays, their intensity is higher so damage to the skin's surface can occur even when the exposure happens for a short time.

 

UV rays still present at home/indoors

 

Even inside the house, when you pull up the curtains or open your windows/doors to get some sun, your face gets exposed to low-intensity UVA rays.

As the day progresses and the sun gets hotter - the intensity of the UVA rays increase correspondingly. You may think you are safe because you are inside the house but sunlight can enter from anywhere, from open doors and vents. UVA rays can even penetrate windows and glass.

For this reason, dermatologists still advise to use facial sunscreen even if you are at home so that your face is protected from UV rays.