Should you wear sunscreen while spending time indoors? Find out
What's the story
The COVID-19 pandemic made sure that most of us spend a significant part of our days inside the comforts of our homes.
While this means an indefinite goodbye to our cosmetics and beauty products, the million-dollar question of whether you should put on sunscreen indoors is still relevant.
Let's dive deeper into this and find out the relevance of applying sunscreen at home.
Purpose
The importance of applying sunscreen
Sunscreen protects the skin against harmful UV radiation and is not just a tool to reduce tan.
UVA and UVB rays damage the skin, causing wrinkles, premature aging, fine lines, and in worst cases, skin cancer as well.
The Sun Protection Factor, aka SPF, present in the sunscreen, delays the action of the UV rays on the skin and thereby reduces skin damage.
Windows
Glass windows can filter out UVB rays, not UVA rays
The glass windows of our homes filter out UVB rays to some extent. However, the harmful UVA rays can still penetrate through your windows.
In fact, UVA rays are known to penetrate a deeper layer of skin and are the root cause of hyperpigmentation, skin cancer, and premature aging.
Hence, applying a fine layer of SPF after your bath is important.
Application
Should you reapply sunscreen while indoors?
The general rule of thumb is to reapply sunscreen every two hours.
However, spending most of the time indoors would mean that you are less likely to sweat, the most common reason to reapply sunscreen.
The amount of sun you're exposed to while being indoors and the time spent near the window are other factors to consider when it comes to reapplying sunscreen.
Blue light
Lastly, sunscreens offer protection from blue light as well
Studies suggest that blue light or the light emitted from gadgets has damaging effects on the skin and can cause skin shrinkage and cell death as well.
Sunscreens formulated with zinc oxide or titanium dioxide are shown to provide significantly higher protection against both UV rays and blue light.
Hence, the answer to whether sunscreen should be applied indoors is a big yes!