There’s an important thing you need to remember when buying sunscreen

Now that the sun is finally out, you are probably making a trip to Boots or Superdrug to get some sunscreen.

As the hit single said, always remember wear sunscreen. You skin is precious and you need to look after yourself. But the type of sunscreen you get is vitally important. Just because a bottle is expensive and a name brand, it doesn’t mean it’s safer – the budget brand could actually be much better or your skin. A Twitter thread by Jonathan Hume is being shared, and has all the info you need to know. https://twitter.com/IamMrJ/status/987041433495404546

The star rating is a measure of how much UVA is blocked relative to the UVB blocking.

UVB causes burning but UVA causes the carcinogenic damage. — Jonathan Hume (@IamMrJ) April 19, 2018

an SPF50 with a 1 Star rating would offer little protection against UVA while a SPF15 with 5 stars may be offering more.

— Jonathan Hume (@IamMrJ) April 19, 2018

So to protect yourself from both UVA and UVB, you want at least an 4 or 5 Star SPF30.

That will block at least 90% of UVA as well as UVB.https://t.co/zmod5Wm9Zv — Jonathan Hume (@IamMrJ) April 19, 2018

These aren't necessarily expensive.

Here are two examples from Wilkos, their own brand (£2 per 100ml) and Garnier (£9.33 per 100ml). The Wilkos is SPF50, 5 Star. The Garnier is SPF30 and has no clear Star rating. The cheapo one would be safer. pic.twitter.com/PPlIGoQ60Y — Jonathan Hume (@IamMrJ) April 19, 2018

The Garnier one has "advanced UVA UVB protection" which is basically meaningless technobabble.

Always go with the ones that give you their actual numbers. — Jonathan Hume (@IamMrJ) April 19, 2018

TL;DR? You need protecting from both UVA and UVB, and you want at least an 4 or 5 Star SPF30. Always check the bottle before you buy.