Protect That Melanin too

We love our melanin (as we should) Its beautiful. We all know that black don't crack, but what if I told you that it does burn though. Now many black people feel as if sunscreen is only for those who are not black, that isn't true. I don't blame us, but instead the medical industry, who doesn't inform us about skin protection like they do those who aren't black.

So I'm going to inform you all...... y'all sunscreen is for US too.

"We don't need sunscreen because we have melanin" -Black people

Yes, we do have melanin, and yes it is a natural protection from the suns UV's but it isn't consistent throughout our bodies. Its 2019 the environment has changed so much, and it has effect our natural sun block. We do need to wear sunscreen because sunburn, skin cancer, and ageing does not care what skin tone you are.

What is sunscreens purpose?

The purpose of sunscreen is to protect your skin. Radiation or Ultraviolet B-rays (UVB) that comes from the sun is very damaging, which is responsible for sun burn and all other damaging effects to the skin.

Dark Marks???

If you are anything like me, when I break out or get a pimple, it goes away and leaves a nasty dark mark or hyperpigmentation where it once was. Those marks typically take about 3 months to clear up for most people, depending on skin tone and severity. Have you had some that took longer? I have and guess why? They took longer to heel, because I was not wearing sunscreen.

WTF Is SPF?

Sun Protection Factor, which is the measurement of how well your skin will be protected from sun. SPF has 3 common measurements which are 15, 30, and 50.

SPF 15 blocks 93% of UVB

SPF 30 blocks 97% of UVB

SPF 50 blocks 98% of UVB

No sunscreen blocks out all of the Ultraviolet B-Rays. Nor will sunscreen prevent you from getting a tan.

How do I choose which SPF is best for me?

You can choose which ever SPF you'd like, they will all work well. However if you know how long it takes for your skin to burn in the sun, you can take that into consideration while choosing your protection. You can also consider how long you plan on being in the sun. You can measure how much wear you can get out of it by multiplying your burn time by the SPF. For example if it takes 20 minutes for your skin to burn and your using SPF 30, that would give you 600 minutes (10 hours) of use in the sun. (20x30=600).

Sunscreen is very important for us Brown people as well as any other color of people. Our melanin is so beautiful that It makes it harder to notice sunburn or any other skin damage, as compared to other races, so we have to Protect that melanin too!