Why EVERYONE should be wearing sunscreen!

By: Desiree Walker 

Have you ever sat down and wondered, “hmmm should I be wearing sunscreen all the time?”. Has someone ever told you that you don't have to wear sunscreen because you're a darker complexion? Well guess what, this is the blog for you! Over time, there have been rumors going around that just because someone has a darker complexion, they don’t have to wear sunscreen. Whoever came up with that idea was WRONG. The idea of wearing sunscreen seems to not be embedded in people’s heads. Coming from a biracial family, I have heard both sides of the sunscreen debate, should darker complected people wear sunscreen too? The answer to that is, of course they should! Just because someone’s skin is darker, does NOT mean that they are protected from the sun, they can still get skin cancer. 

You may be wondering “am I considered a darker complexion?”. When I think of a darker complexion, I think of anyone that has an olive complexion or darker, also anyone with reddish undertones. People of Hispanic, Asian, Native, Polynesian, and African American backgrounds are commonly seen with darker complexions. Personally, I would not consider myself to be darker complected (even coming from a biracial family), but I would consider my dad and brother to be a darker complexion. Below is a family picture for reference to skin color.

Here is a picture of my family.
Personal photo

 When it comes to skin complexion, there is a lot of science behind how dark or light a person could be. All this science is important in the makeup of who you are and how likely you are to get skin cancer. Since science can be difficult to understand, I am going to break it down into simple terms. Let’s start with what skin is.

The skin is an important structure of the body that protects by using physical, chemical and microorganism agents (Jablonski 2004). All these features are why it is so important to protect your skin from the sun. As many people know, the body’s largest organ is the skin. The skin provides information about a person’s age and health (Jablonski 2004). It also is the shield from the sun that protects the body from dangerous UV (ultraviolet) radiation (Jablonski 2004). The skin is the main location to produce vitamin D (Jablonski 2004). The main portion of the skin that causes skin color is the melanocytes.  

Melanocytes are the main component in the skin’s pigment or chromophore, melanin (Jablonski 2004). The human skin contains two types of melanin, a brownish-black and a reddish yellow. Higher concentrations of the brownish-black pigment are associated with dark skin colors including tanned skin (Jablonski). Scientists use the term constitutive when talking about skin color in its true form, before being exposed to the sun (Jablonski 2004). This is important when looking at skin of individuals with a darker constitutive. Research shows that people who have darker constitutive have a natural SPF of 10-15 (Jablonski 2004).

Figure 1: image of a melanocyte under a microscope.
Photo from iStock

Now that we have looked at the skin as a whole and what makes a person have the complexion they have, let’s talk about how sunscreen works and how it is important. In a study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, several scientists found how sunscreens work and the effectiveness of them. Starting off with how sunscreens work: sunscreen contain chemical or physical compounds to block UV radiation (Sander et al. 2020). Ultraviolet light is subdivided in four different categories: UVA 1, UVA 2, UVB and UVC. Since ultraviolet light has shorter wavelengths than visible light, this leads to the risk of biological damage to be done to the body (Sander et al. 2020). As said before sunscreens contain chemical or physical compounds to block out the sun, the chemical compounds are the ones that are basically absorbed into your skin. These chemicals include oxybenzone, avobenzone, octocrylene and ecamsule (Sander et al. 2020). These chemicals basically take the ultraviolet radiation and convert it into lower-energy wavelengths, such as infrared radiation (Sander et al. 2020). The physical sunscreen filters sit on the top of the skin, instead of being absorbed into the body. These are normally the sunscreens that leave the white casting on people. Titanium dioxide and zinc oxide are examples of the physical sunscreen filters. This type of sunscreen reflects or refract ultraviolet radiation away from the skin, but if the particles of the sunscreen are too small, they will react to the radiation like the chemical filters. In the study, the researchers looked at the effectiveness of sunscreen. They found that using SPF 50 helped reduce the development of major skin cancer and cancer precursors (Sander et al. 2020). Now that there is an explanation of how sunscreen works and that sunscreen is effective, we can talk about what happens when someone does not wear sunscreen.

Photo from iStock

In the United States, skin cancer is one of the most common cancers there is (Bradford 2009). Most skin cancer is seen in lighter skin individuals, but it is still seen in the darker complexions. When skin cancer is found in dark complexions, it is often shown in an advanced stage (Bradford 2009). Since the signs of skin cancer are harder to recognize on a darker complexion, when they are finally seen, they are a lot further along in the process of development compared to when someone with a lighter complexion would find them. There are certain skin cancers that are more prominent in individuals with darker skin also. The main one is dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (Bradford 2009). One researcher, Porcia T. Bradford, has looked at the percentages of the different types of skin cancers in people of color. Melanoma is not as prominent in darker individuals, but there are different forms of melanoma that are more likely to be seen. People of color are likely to develop acral lentiginous melanoma, which is melanoma of the palms, soles, and nail beds (Bradford 2009). There have been studies that show the survival rates for Blacks and Hispanics are consistently lower than those of Caucasians (Bradford 2009). This may have to do with the idea seen above, that skin cancers are normally found in the later stages of development in people of darker complexions. 

Figure 2: chart showing the frequency of most common skin cancers in caucasians and people of color

So now that I have talked about all the science that you need to know to understand the skin and sunscreen, let's look at sunscreens that are good for you. A lot of times, people of color do not wear sunscreen because they either believe they do not need to or do not like that sunscreen leaves a white cast on them. I hope after all that science talked about above, you understand why you should be wearing sunscreen. Skin cancer is no joke, and with it being found in dark complexions in later states, it is important that you can do as much as possible to prevent it. The first way to prevent skin cancer is by wearing sunscreen. As I mentioned earlier, people of darker complexions naturally have an SPF of 10-15 because of the melanocytes in their skin, but that DOES NOT mean your body is completely protected. An SPF of 50 for 24 months dramatically decreased the likelihood of getting skin cancer in all skin types (Sander et al. 2020). Based on what the American Academy of Dermatology recommends, an SPF of 30 or higher should be used every day for all skin types (Sander et al. 2020). The next important part of wearing sunscreen and wearing the correct SPF is wearing sunscreen properly. 

Studies have shown that consumers normally under apply sunscreen by 20-50% the recommended application amount, wearing sunscreen with a higher SPF can make up for the under application (Sander e al. 2020). There have been recent studies that show sunscreen remains on the skin for as long as eight hours after application, compared to the two to three hours that was suggested before. This is not saying to never reapply sunscreen, if there is a likelihood that the sunscreen has been removed off the skin, such as sweating, swimming, putting clothes on and exfoliation from the sand (Sander et al. 2020). It is also important to note that spray on sunscreens are not as effective as cream based sunscreens. The wind can disperse the sunscreen, leading to inadequate application. Since a lot of spray sunscreens are fast drying, it is hard to see if the application of the sunscreen is evenly on the body, which is another spray sunscreens are not nearly as effective as creams are (Sander et al. 2020). 

Figure 3: An example of what white casting can look like on a darker complexion.
Photo from iStock

Now that we know how to wear sunscreen, you are wondering “what type of sunscreen does not leave a white casting on my body?” The best place sunscreens to use are the ones that that have titanium oxide and zinc oxide in them. The only problem that consumers have with these ingredients are that that is what causes the white casting on the darker complexions.  EWG's Guide to Sunscreen is a good place to go and look for sunscreens that are effective and do not have a lot of harsh chemicals in them. Within this website, you can look for the best recreational sunscreens, the best sunscreens for kids, the best daily use SPF, and even the ingredients within sunscreens. All this information can be useful to you!

Figure 4: example of tinted sunscreen on a darker complexion.
Photo from iStock

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