What do SPF numbers indicate?

Modified on Tue, 14 Jan at 11:19 AM

SPF stands for “sun protection factor,” and the SPF number indicates how well the sunscreen protects your skin against sunburn. If you weren’t wearing any sunscreen, the sun starts to damage your skin 5-20 minutes after exposure. The SPF number indicates how much longer the sun will take to burn your skin if you apply it correctly. For example, if you were wearing an SPF 30 sunscreen it would take 30 times longer to burn your skin than if you weren’t wearing any sunscreen at all. 50 times longer if wearing SPF 50.


Visit our What is SPF? page to learn more

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