What is 'sun debt' and how can you avoid it?

Slip, slop, slap and chat

Holly Berckelman

6 min read

September 20, 2023 - 9:47AM

It's time to stock up on your sunscreen. Image: Getty

Lifestyle

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The weather's heating up which serves as the best reminder to stock up on your sunscreen. Here, Ultra Violette co-founder Ava Matthews talks how to avoid sun debt, the biggest misconceptions about SPF, and why sun protection is worth talking about.

Many people around the country have just suffered through their first bought of oppressive heat for the season – and if you’re anything like me, you forgot just how searing it can really be.

From the early hours of the morning, sweat seems to stream out of pores I didn’t even know I had, incidences of the much-feared thigh chafe returns, hair reaches a level of sticky-greasy-frizzy-dryness that should be chemically impossible and the humidity feels like a doona wrapped around your head – suffocating, and so, so hot.

Just under three weeks into the first season of Spring and the El Nino-fuelled heat is as brutal as midsummer. As unpleasant as it is, this taster of the months to come do serve as one important reminder: that when it comes to the sun, our skin is truly no match.

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What is sun debt?

Every single time you step outside, the sun wreaks havoc on your health – and your skin keeps the receipts.

Co-founders of sunscreen-skincare hybrid brand Ultra Violette, Ava Matthews and Bec Jefferd, call this ‘sun debt’ – and the skin has an accountant like no other, keeping tabs in the form of fine lines, wrinkles, pigmentation, loss of volume, redness and ultimately, cancer.

This is information that millennials and older Australians are aware of – but somehow, the messaging has been lost along the way, and tanning has experienced a resurgence in levels not seen in the last 20 years.

“I think there are still a lot of brands and content creators who are not being conscious with their messaging and campaign imagery and continue to promote visible tan lines, lying out in the sun and excessively bronzed skin,” Matthews tells Body+Soul.

“The reality is, the sun is the ultimate skin enemy. What many people don’t know is that the UV index doesn’t account for UVA rays and these are the ones doing the most damage to our skin.”

She continues, “Gen Zers may not care about this now but they will probs regret it later – I spend a fortune on laser getting rid of past damage.”

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The harshest regulations in the world

Australia has some of the harshest rules and regulations about putting an SPF on the market, which means the quality of our sunscreen is like no other.

“We should be where the rest of the world looks for sunscreen and SPF development,” says Matthews, “Our climate dictates it!”

However, regulations on formulating and selling sunscreens aren’t the only red tape around SPF in Australia. Since the Therapeutic Goods Administration tightened the regulations around marketing and talking about sunscreen last year, banning personal testimonies about sunscreen if they weren’t purchased by the creator, discussions around the importance of sunscreen have dropped off a cliff.

“If the message is restricted through social media and other public forums and places where people mostly get their information, this is an absolute regulatory failure,” says Matthews. “In my opinion, more damage is being done through the existence of this [SPF] advertising code update than good.”

Sun debt is cumulative, and your skin never forgets. Image: Getty

SPF: let’s talk about

With ‘there’s nothing healthy about a tan’ messaging a thing of the past, and creators scared to talk about sunscreen should they be hit with a $50,000 fine, it means conversations about sun protection have become a rarity in the social space in particular – which is an issue for more than one reason.

“It goes without saying that education is everything when it comes to the benefits of SPF and daily application,” Matthews tells Body+Soul. “We need more and more people to understand this - we also need more and more people knowing that there are great, user-friendly SPFs out there with a whole host of skin benefits beyond just sun protection.”

Misconceptions around sunscreen are just one reason why increased volume around sun protection is so desperately needed, especially in Australia which has the highest rates of skin cancer in the word.

“I’ve seen some scary things,” says Matthews. “The two biggies: demonising certain SPF filters – conversations around them being “bad for you” are simply untrue and also not applying enough! Most people do not wear the correct amount of SPF. It’s a 1/4 teaspoon for the face – we’ve measured it out for our products to make it as easy as possible.”

She continues, “Relying on the SPF in your moisturiser or foundation is another biggie and it’s more common than you’d think. It doesn’t count in makeup alone, and SPF15 isn’t a great first line of defence, in Australia you really need SPF30 as a minimum. Even if it’s a foundation with SPF 50+, you’d need to apply SO much to get adequate coverage – hello mask face!”

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The funification, and skinification, of sunscreen

Making sunscreen less of a ‘have to’ and more of a ‘want to do’ was one of the founding tenets of Ultra Violette, which Matthews says was only reinforced when they were stocked at Mecca. “[We] realised there’s nothing sexy or fun about sunscreens; from the way they look, feel and smell to where they’re sold and their tone of voice.”

Ultra Violette has successfully turned the entire concept of sunscreen on its head, and successfully integrated SPF into the skincare routine through their creation of ‘skinscreens’ – products that don’t only protect the skin but also nourish it.

“I think there’s such a misconception out there that sunscreen is thick, greasy, makes you break out, makes you sweat, makes your makeup pill or break down and look, it’s for good reason, but we wanted to right those SPF wrongs with Ultra Violette,” Mattews tells Body+Soul.

“Not to mention, we all have different skin needs; we offer a wardrobe of options that caters for as many people's individual needs as possible – not just one – so you can find something that suits you whether it’s hydration, mattifying, invisibility on skin, et cetera.”

Ultra Violette’s much-anticipated Skinvestment Day is just one of the ways the brand has upped the virality of sunscreen – offering a two-day- buy-one-get-one-free deal across a selection of their Skinscreen range. Not only has the campaign upped the excitement around sunscreen, it’s also doing a whole lot of good by getting sunscreen into the hands of Australians as they prepare to spend more time outside in the sun.

How to dodge sun debt this summer

For starters, it starts well before summer – doing your best to protect your skin from the sun should be a year-long commitment, rain, hail or shine.

“In many places in Australia, the UV doesn’t dip below 3 ever (not even in the depths of winter) so although it might feel colder, the UV in the atmosphere is still damaging your skin,” Matthews tells Body+Soul.

That UV index also doesn’t cover UVA rays (which are present all year round), which Matthews says are the most damaging in terms of ageing. “So even though it may not feel sunny or hot, you’re still getting UVA damage.”

As the experts say, the best sunscreen is the one you’ll wear every day – so it’s crucial to make it a non-negotiable part of your routine every day.

“Facial SPF use is something you want to make a habit of so applying it every day is a good thing,” Matthews tells Body+Soul. “SPF application should be like brushing your teeth! Don’t leave home without doing it.”