Although beach weather is just days away on the East Coast, a true “Tanorexic” doesn’t wait to get a jump on her tan. In fact it is baked on, rubbed on, sprayed on and worked on all year round. Dare I say that it is not in pursuit of boosting her Vitamin D intake and SPF, UVA and UVB are probably thought to be social diseases which can be avoided by use of a condom. What?

It’s no secret that those of us who were born with lighter skin probably spend too much time trying to “get a little color” while basking in the sun, unprotected by sunscreen. In fact I will fess up and admit to using iodine and baby oil mixed together while I sunbathed on a friend’s rooftop to get a little closer to those UVA’s and UVB’s. But I was just a child. In my adult life, I’ve committed the crime of not using sunscreen, in fact I even faked and baked a few times before vacation…just to get a base and a head start on my tan which makes absolutely no sense. Does that mean that the tan before the tan is safer than the tan itself???

Now that I am much wiser and older I would like to buy back some of that youthful pasty colored skin and start all over. Fortunately even as my bikini days are numbered, there is still time to make a difference. Here is what I now know about sunscreen thanks to the Skin Cancer Foundation:

Most sunscreens with an SPF of 15 or higher do an excellent job of protecting against UVB. SPF — or Sun Protection Factor — is a measure of a sunscreen’s ability to prevent UVB from damaging the skin. Here’s how it works: If it takes 20 minutes for your unprotected skin to start turning red, using an SPF 15 sunscreen theoretically prevents reddening 15 times longer — about five hours.

Another way to look at it is in terms of percentages: SPF 15 blocks approximately 93 percent of all incoming UVB rays. SPF 30 blocks 97 percent; and SPF 50 blocks 98 percent. They may seem like negligible differences, but if you are light-sensitive, or have a history of skin cancer, those extra percentages will make a difference. And as you can see, no sunscreen can block all UV rays.

But there are problems with the SPF model: First, no sunscreen, regardless of strength, should be expected to stay effective longer than two hours without reapplication. Second, “reddening” of the skin is a reaction to UVB rays alone and tells you little about what UVA damage you may be getting. Plenty of damage can be done without the red flag of sunburn being raised.

Remember too, that in the early spring, the sun is much closer and the risk of getting a burn is greater. So, get your base tan from a bottle and pour a shot glass full of sunscreen and go for the gold instead of the bronze!

Wear Sunscreen