Many sunscreens recommend reapplying every two hours. But another way to look at it is like painting a wall of your house. The first coat gets a reasonable coverage, but a reapplication 20-30 minutes after being in the sun – after the first coat has “dried” – gets you much more reliable coverage. And this will cover the bits you may have missed, or covered too thinly, on first pass.
Also, use it generously. Most people use too little (between a quarter and three-quarters) of the amount of sunscreen necessary to achieve the sun protection claimed on the label. A teaspoon per limb is a good rule of thumb. Add another teaspoon for your face, front and back. This comes to seven teaspoons (35ml) in all if you are at the beach in board shorts or a bikini.
Layer it on and spread it around. Reapply every two hours or more often if you are active (sweating, towelling off, skin making physical contact with anything that might rub it off), even if the bottle claims four-hour water resistance. And a good idea is to check if the lotion hasn’t passed its use-by date.
Use other things to protect your skin too. Hats, shade, clothing and even staying indoors at the highest UV periods. The closer to solar noon, usually between midday and 12.30pm, the higher the UV.
Source: Cancer Council
