Protecting your skin from sun damage should be as simple as slathering on the SPF. But unfortunately, as you may know from Cosmo's Practice Safe Sun campaign, not all sunscreens are created equal. Many of the kinds sold protect from UVB, but not UVA light, meaning you're still vulnerable to the sun's rays. And the bottles or sprays that read "waterproof" may not actually keep you from getting burned while in the water. Plus, those with an SPF number lower than 15 won't actually safeguard you from skin cancer. Confusing, right? Well, picking out the perfect sunscreen just got a whole lot simpler. That's because the FDA recently released a new set of regulations that raises the bar on protection and will help consumers figure out which ones work and which ones fall short.

These regulations are about 30 years in the making. Here's a breakdown of the changes you can expect:

Sunscreen with an SPF under 15 will come with a warning that it does not protect against skin cancer. (Yes, that means you should toss your SPF eights and 10s stat—if you haven't already.)

The words "waterproof" and "sweatproof" will be banned from packaging. How come? They're not specific and can lead consumers to think they don't have to reapply frequently even if they're immersed in a pool for hours. The FDA will now require any sunscreen that claims to offer protection in H2O to call itself "water resistant" and state exactly how long it stays effective if the user gets wet. Look for one of two phrases: effective for 40 minutes or effective for 80 minutes.

Sunscreens that call themselves "broad spectrum" will only be allowed to do so if they've been tested and found to offer UVA protection in addition to UVB protection.

All of the key info about the product will be shown in a "fact box" on the label that's easy to find and easy to understand.

The new regulations will go into effect sometime next year. Though we expect a lot of our favorite brands will comply much sooner—especially since so many of them already offer great protection from the sun. It'll just be a matter of tweaking their packaging to reflect that.

Get more information on how to keep your skin healthy and gorgeous at Cosmo's Practice Safe Sun campaign page.

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