Why should you care about sun exposure? You tan, you burn, it's something we all know well. Less well known are the long-term effects of both. Current research indicates sun exposure causes premature skin aging and skin cancer.

• Skin cancer is the most prevalent form of cancer in the U.S. More than 1 million people are diagnosed with non-melanoma skin cancer each year.
• One in five Americans will develop skin cancer in their lifetime
• One in three Caucasians will have skin cancer.
• The sun’s UVA rays are considered cancer causing. UVB rays may also contribute to skin cancer.
• One blistering sunburn episode as a child more than doubles your chances of developing skin cancer later in life.
• UVA and UVB rays change the skin’s texture over time causing wrinkling, age spots and premature aging.

The good news is that skin cancer is largely preventable. Skin health is assured with a program based on broad spectrum sun protection. A broad spectrum program denotes protection from UVA and UVB rays by using sun shielding clothing or broad spectrum sunscreen.

All of Real Earth Product’s sunscreen and lip balm formulas offer broad spectrum protection. Not only do they protect against UVA and UVB rays, each formula contains natural anti-oxidants to fight UV free radicals, which contribute to skin aging and skin cancer.

Real Earth Products can help protect you and your family from harmful UVA and UVB rays and reduce the chances of skin cancer, sun damage and premature skin aging.

How Sunscreens Work?

Sunscreens have "active" ingredients that either absorb or block UVA and UVB rays. Currently there are seventeen FDA approved active sunscreen compounds but few offer UVA protection. Only AVOBENZONE, Encamsule, ZINC OXIDE and TITANIUM DIOXIDE offer significant UVA protection.

Most active ingredients do not block both UVA and UVB rays. The term broad spectrum connotes both UVA and UVB protection. Manufacturers often use a combination of actives to give broad spectrum protection.

The Sun Protection Factor (SPF) system was developed to indicate protection from UVB rays. It DOES NOT indicate protection from UVA rays. The SPF number on your sunscreen indicates how much longer it will take you to burn than if you were not using it. If you burn in one minute without sunscreen, you would burn in 15 minutes with an SPF 15 sunscreen and 30 minutes with a SPF 30 sunscreen. This is highly dependent on many variables including: skin type, heat, humidity, how much sunscreen you used and your sun exposure over days. Use SPF numbers as guides not as hard and fast rules.

In general correct application and re-application of sunscreen is more important than relying on a high SPF number for your protection. If you are fair skinned, exercising in a hot humid environment, sweating profusely and have been doing so over a number of days your are better off applying the proper amount of SPF 15 3-4 times per day than applying an SPF 50 once.