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" When George Harrison wrote &amp;quot;Here Comes the Sun&amp;quot; back in 1969, he probably wasn&amp;#039;t thinking about forehead wrinkles or suspicious-looking moles. And for all the scary UV facts out there today, there&amp;#039;s no denying that sunshine still equals happiness: family vacations, barefoot walks on the beach, warmth after the long, cold winter. While we know why we should avoid the sun\u2014it&amp;#039;s the number-one cause of signs of aging and directly linked to skin cancer, which is on the rise\u2014most of us are guilty of convincing ourselves that catching a few rays can&amp;#039;t do much harm. Major mistake, skin docs and scientists say, though they also realize that no one wants to park it indoors on a cloudless 80-degree day. REDBOOK asked them for easy ways to keep yourself honest and safe in the sun. THE LIE: &amp;quot;If I protect my skin year-round, it&amp;#039;s okay to sunbathe a little when I&amp;#039;m on vacation.&amp;quot; THE TRUTH: You deserve a gold star for wearing a broad-spectrum, SPF 30-or-higher sunscreen throughout the year\u2014it&amp;#039;s your best defense against UV damage. But taking a week off from that diligence can undo a year&amp;#039;s worth of protection. &amp;quot;Occasional but intense sun exposure, like the kind you get on a beachy vacation, is linked to an increased risk of basal cell carcinoma, as well as melanoma,&amp;quot; says Gary Marder, medical director of the Skin Cancer Center in Okeechobee, FL, and a spokesperson for the Skin Cancer Foundation. Here&amp;#039;s why: Every day, your skin cells create enough melanin to protect themselves from a small amount of sun exposure. But when, after being cooped up all winter, you strip down and bask in the sun for days, the cells can&amp;#039;t cope with all that extra UV exposure. &amp;quot;They suffer DNA damage, and that can lead to wrinkles and skin cancer,&amp;quot; says dermatologist Leslie Baumann, M.D., founder of the Baumann Cosmetic &amp;amp;amp; Research Institute in Miami. So grab a chaise in the shade and slap on the SPF. Try Coppertone Sensitive Skin Faces Lotion SPF 50, $8.99, or Aveeno Hydrosport Wet Skin Spray SPF 30, $9.99. THE LIE: &amp;quot;I need some sun in order to get enough vitamin D.&amp;quot; THE TRUTH: &amp;quot;An adult needs 600 IU [international units] of vitamin D per day in order to have strong bones and a good immune system,&amp;quot; Marder says, &amp;quot;which you can get in just five to 10 minutes of being outdoors.&amp;quot; You don&amp;#039;t even need that: You can eat your daily D fix with one serving of an oily fish like salmon or trout, fortified orange juice, milk, or yogurt. You could also take a vitamin D supplement, but doctors say food sources are best. What definitively won&amp;#039;t work is &amp;quot;soaking up&amp;quot; the sun&amp;#039;s rays. &amp;quot;If you take in too much vitamin D at once, your body backfires and starts to break it down, depleting your levels,&amp;quot; Marder says. THE LIE: &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;ve heard that 80 percent of sun damage happens before you&amp;#039;re 18, so I&amp;#039;m already doomed.Why panic now?&amp;quot; THE TRUTH: This one is a particularly wrinkly old wives&amp;#039; tale. &amp;quot;Only 23 percent of your lifetime sun damage occurs by the time you&amp;#039;re 18,&amp;quot; says Mona Gohara, M.D., an assistant clinical professor of dermatology at Yale School of Medicine. Not only will slathering on sunscreen now help keep your skin smooth and healthy in the long run, it can actually help reverse some of the damage that&amp;#039;s already occurred. &amp;quot;The repair enzymes in your body are constantly working to undo the effects of past sun exposure, and the better protected they are from UV rays, the more effective they are at fixing the damage,&amp;quot; Baumann explains. If that doesn&amp;#039;t convince you, take Marder&amp;#039;s word for it: &amp;quot;I have personally witnessed skin cancers shrink in patients who avoided direct sun exposure after being diagnosed.&amp;quot; Now repeat after us: I will wear SPF 30 every day. I will wear SPF 30 every day\u2026  THE LIE: &amp;quot;The sun is only dangerous between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.&amp;quot; THE TRUTH: The sun may not feel as intense post-lunchtime, &amp;quot;but it can do damage even on a cloudy day, so you have to take afternoon sun seriously,&amp;quot; says Baumann. And if you&amp;#039;re sitting by the water, the sun&amp;#039;s rays are reflected and intensified, so stick to that every-two-hours sunscreen-application rule, at least until happy hour starts. THE LIE: &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m not Caucasian, so I&amp;#039;m not really at risk for skin cancer.&amp;quot; THE TRUTH: We get the logic of this one, because the darker your natural skin tone, the more melanin your skin contains. And this does give you some inherent protection against UV rays, but dermatologists all agree: It&amp;#039;s not nearly enough. &amp;quot;A person with medium-brown skin has a &amp;#039;natural&amp;#039; SPF of about 13. You need at least SPF 30 to protect against skin cancer and wrinkles,&amp;quot; Gohara says, and even the darkest-skinned individuals don&amp;#039;t have a natural SPF that high. Another wake-up call: African-Americans are at higher risk for acral lentiginous melanoma, a particularly dangerous form of the disease that develops on the palms of hands and the soles of feet\u2014places the sun often doesn&amp;#039;t even reach. &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s so deadly because many people don&amp;#039;t see it until it&amp;#039;s spread,&amp;quot; says Gohara. Which is why it&amp;#039;s also essential for everyone, regardless of skin color, to see a dermatologist once a year for an allover skin check. THE LIE: &amp;quot;Getting a bit of color on my legs or arms is no biggie\u2014they aren&amp;#039;t as delicate as my face.&amp;quot; THE TRUTH: No siree bob. &amp;quot;The most common spot for melanoma to develop on a woman is on the calf of a leg,&amp;quot; Gohara says. The second most common area is on the torso. Remember: You need to make sure all of your exposed body parts are either covered with clothing or coated in a broad-spectrum sunscreen like Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Body Mist SPF 45, $10.49. THE LIE: &amp;quot;Don&amp;#039;t some chemical sunscreens contain carcinogens?&amp;quot; THE TRUTH: This rumor has been floating around online for some time now. &amp;quot;It started when, in 2001, a small study performed on mice suggested that oxybenzone, an FDA-aproved ingredient found in many chemical sunscreens, produced free radicalsthat may contribute to melanoma,&amp;quot; says Marder says. But every dermatologist we spoke with said there&amp;#039;s no scientific evidence suggesting that oxybenzone is harmful to humans. Still, if you&amp;#039;d feel better using an all-natural sunscreen, one of our favorites is Alba Botanica Very Emollient Mineral Sunscreen SPF 30, $10.99.  How to Read a Sunscreen Label For those of us without a medical degree, understanding the fine print on a sunscreen bottle can be confusing. Use our decoder when you&amp;#039;re stocking up this summer. Active ingredients: This is the part of the label that lists the type of sunscreen used. If it&amp;#039;s a chemical formula, the active ingredient is often avobenzone (considered the most effective); others are octocrylene, octisalate, and homosalte. If it&amp;#039;s a mineral sunscreen, the active ingredient is titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, or both. The SPF number: Two things to know when you&amp;#039;re eyeing this magic number: 1. It indicates only how well you&amp;#039;re protected from UVB rays, the ones that cause a sunburn. It doesn&amp;#039;t apply to your protection from UVA rays, which cause wrinkles and skin cancer. 2. Only an SPF 30 or higher sunscreen that&amp;#039;s labeled &amp;quot;broad-spectrum&amp;quot; protects from UVA and UVB rays. So don&amp;#039;t kid yourself with SPF 8\u2014if you wear anything less than 30 when you&amp;#039;re out in the sun, you basically have on nothing at all. Directions: What you won&amp;#039;t see here but should know: If it&amp;#039;s a cream, you need to slather a shot-glass&amp;#039;s worth on your body and a teaspoon on your face every two hours. If it&amp;#039;s a spray, mist in zigzaggy motions till you gleam, then rub it in\u2014even if it says you don&amp;#039;t have to. And don&amp;#039;t forget to reapply! Inactive ingredients: Here&amp;#039;s where you&amp;#039;ll find everything else that&amp;#039;s in the formula. If you have sensitive skin, make sure the words hypo allergenic and fragrance- and PABA-free are on the front or back label. Prone to breakouts? Look for oil-free and non-comedogenic. The expiration date: Once a sunscreen bottle is opened, it&amp;#039;s good for two to three years, regardless of the expiration date listed\u2014if it&amp;#039;s stored in a dark, dry place in between seasons. If you&amp;#039;re not sure when you bought it, toss it and buy a new one. But keep in mind: If one bottle of sunscreen lasts you the entire summer, you&amp;#039;re not using enough! If you have small children and are worried about chemicals\u2026 Use a mineral sunscreen. They&amp;#039;re chemical-free, so even if your kid licks it off you, there&amp;#039;s absolutely no risk of illness (which is why sunscreens made for babies and kids are usually mineral formulas). If you plan on swimming: New FDA labeling rules clarify how long a sunscreen lasts when you&amp;#039;re in the water. Now, a formula may be labeled &amp;quot;water-resistant,&amp;quot; meaning it protects you for up to 40 minutes, or &amp;quot;very water-resistant,&amp;quot; which means you&amp;#039;re covered for up to 80 minutes. (They&amp;#039;ve done away with the term &amp;quot;waterproof,&amp;quot; because nothing really is.) Wait 30 minutes, seriously. You know where it says &amp;quot;apply 30 minutes before sun exposure&amp;quot;? Believe it. Chemical sunscreens take 30 minutes to work. If you&amp;#039;re in a rush, mineral ones are effective right away. A Better Mole-Check is Coming Your Way A new FDA-approved body scanner called MelaFind can detect melanoma in its earliest stage. The device looks like a bar-code scanner and uses wave lengths to painlessly evaluate the growth patterns of irregular moles, to determine whether a questionable mole needs to be biopsied. In a study, dermatologists doing traditional skin checks caught 72 percent of melanoma cases in patients; for those using MelaFind, the number jumped to 98.3 percent. The service, which currently isn&amp;#039;t covered by insurance, ranges from $25 to $40 per mole. To find a doctor in your area who offers it, go to melafind.com. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.redbookmag.com/beauty/makeup-skincare/tips/a15069/tanning-and-skin-cancer-myths/>