The Very Best Body SPFs: It’s Time To Find Your Perfect Sun Lotion

Finding your SPF soulmate can be tricky business, especially when the sun starts making a reappearance. Firstly, there’s the broad spectrum protection (that means fielding both UVA and UVB rays) to think about, then then comes the factor (30+ is always the best way to go) and finally, the feel. Texture, consistency, skin finish – it all comes into play when finding the dream sun cream that you'll want to wear out of choice, not mere necessity. And that’s where we come in: introducing the best body sunscreens in the business, tried and tested by team Grazia.

First though, a little lesson in safe sun protection…

Let's Talk Daily SPF Application

Hands up if you’re guilty of swerving daily SPF application in the summer months when you’re at home ? Ah-ha. We thought so. For many of us, while we'll religiously lather on our sun lotion mid-Mediterranean holiday, a spike in sun and temperatures back in the UK doesn't illicit the same response. Ultrasun MD, Abi Cleeve – says who is vocal about the need for says we need to up our game on home soil.

'We all need sun protection no matter what our skin type. The sun is not selective, UVB rays burn and UVA rays penetrate deeply into the skin causing premature ageing, damaging the collagen and elastine structure and causing malignant melanoma.' Abi goes on to cite that one of the most common areas she sees instances of malignant melanomas are on legs. 'It's likely to be because when the sun hits the UK it's one of the first things we do - get our legs out. Legs that have likely not been exposed to proper sun for quite some time. Something as innocent as someone letting their legs see some sun on their lunch break without any SPF could be the cause in some cases.' Take heed and apply that body SPF.

How Much Sun Lotion Should I Apply?

This can often be hard to determine when it comes to differentiating between spray bottles and tube bottles, but here's the lowdown. According to Ultrasun, when using a non-spray sun lotion, we should be using - at the very least - the following (based on one finger length constituting a line of the product dispensed along your finger)...

Face: 1 finger length

Front of arms: 1 finger length each

Front of chest and shoulders: 2 finger lengths

Front of rest of torso: 2 finger lengths

Front of legs: 2 finger lengths each

Neck and ears: 1 finger length

Back of arms: 1 finger length each

Top of back and back of shoulders: 2 finger lengths

Back of torso: 2 finger lengths

Back of legs: 2 finger lengths each

As far as spray SPFs are concerned, be vigilant. According to the American Academy of Dermatology most adults need at least enough sun screen to fill a shot glass to protect them accordingly. Remember this is not an inconsiderable amount of spray sunscreen. Be liberal and make sure to massage it into your skin directly after spraying. Hold the nozzle close to your body as if there's even a slight breeze, you could lose a fair bit of it before it even hits your skin.

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