It’s a long weekend, the first we’ve had in a while. And it’s the unofficial start to summer.

Which means…

It’s time to break out the sunscreen. You’ll need it as you lounge by the pool here at the Remington.

And when you’re picking out some sunscreen, we all know that the higher the SPF rating, the better. Right?

Wrong. It’s not quite that simple.

For one thing, there is some evidence that higher SPF sunscreen can paradoxically lead to less sun protection. You see, when we use super high SPF sunscreen, we tend not to use enough of it, and we figure we don’t need to reapply it every couple of hours as directed.

And the SPF numbers are not very user-friendly. A rating of 90 is not twice as good as a rating of 45. The higher you go on the SPF scale, the less added protection. It’s a case of rapidly dimishing returns.

The consensus seems to be that anything from SPF15 to SPF30 is going to be effective. If you have particually sensitive skin, stay on the high side of that scale. But don’t worry about getting the highest SPF possible.

What’s more important is that you apply the sunscreen liberally… and often.

Read all about SPF factors, and about the different chemicals used in sunscreen in this WebMD article. It also has some advice on what brands to consider.

(Photo: Some rights reserved, Tommy Wong)