Edition: U.S. / Global


Published: June 11, 1988

Sun protection can add up to more than just healthier skin. Sunscreens to last a family of four through summer weekends can easily cost $1,000 or more.

Increasingly, cosmetics companies are tempting consumers with coordinated products seductively packaged in summery colors, including yellow, tangerine and sky blue. Some are laced with ingredients like vitamin E and aloe. But the extras - the special ingredients, the packaging and the promotion - come at a price. Four-ounce tubes of sunscreen, which last a few days, can cost $20. A mere 0.15 ounce of a special product for the eyes and lips can cost over $10.

The products have their appeal, but you can do without many of them. Some basic guidelines will help you cut costs and still get maximum protection.

Dermatologists recommend choosing a product with a sun protection factor of at least 15. This allows you to stay in the sun without burning 15 times longer than you could if you were unprotected. Products with lower SPF's, as they are known, generally cost about as much; they just give you less protection for your dollar. Even after you have tanned a bit, stay with an SPF of 15 or above to help prevent sun damage.

Buy sunscreens in drugstores and supermarkets rather than in department stores. You should find a good selection for $6 to $7, and some store brands cost less. The active ingredients will be the same as in products that cost three times as much. Among the ingredients the Food and Drug Administration has approved are padimate O, oxybenzone, homosalate, benzophenone-3 and octyl methoxycinnamate. They are listed on product labels.

Pass up products for specific areas like the face, neck and chest. An all-purpose sunscreen will protect face and body. The only other product you need is a lip protector, which is waxier and adheres better. Dermatologists question the value of eye preparations, pointing out that sunscreens should not get into the eyes.

Get the most from the product by applying it about 30 minutes before exposure so it can be absorbed and is less likely to be washed off by perspiration.

But don't try to save money by stinting on the amount of sunscreen you use. On average, about an ounce, or a quarter of the standard four-ounce tube, is needed to protect the entire body. And you won't get your money's worth unless you reapply the product after swimming and toweling off. Even waterproof sunscreens wear away after long periods in the water.

The sun protection factor scale by which sunscreens are rated seems open-ended. The lowest SPF rating is 2; this year there are products with ratings as high as 50. But as the numbers increase, the differences in potency diminish.

Dermatologists and cosmetics experts are divided on whether a product with an SPF of 50 is needed. ''Scientifically, it makes little sense to use an SPF that's over 20,'' said Heinz J. Eiermann, the director of the F.D.A.'s division of colors and cosmetics. ''So why SPF 30? It doesn't make sense.''

But Dr. Norman Levine, the chief of dermatology at the University of Arizona, believes in the higher numbers.

''I am going more and more to recommending that people use high SPF sunscreens,'' he said, ''with the notion that they may be protecting themselves against facets of sun damage other than sunburn, which occur down the road.''

Some people are sensitive to the active ingredients in sunscreens. Mr. Eiermann pointed out that for them higher strengths can mean more potential for irritation. The culprit is usually the widely used ingredient padimate O, which also appears on labels as octyl dimethyl PABA.

If you developed rashes or blotches last summer, it could have been your sunscreen. Try a patch test first, being sure to expose the area to the sun. If it produces a reaction, try a PABA-free product. Among them are Solbar PF, (by Person & Covey) TiScreen Lotion SPF 15 (by T/I Pharmaceuticals), Neutrogena Moisture 15, and Super Shade 25 (Plough).

With the need for sunscreens now firmly established, the field of products continues to widen. Some of the newer offerings include non-oily preparations for blemish-prone skin and spray containers for easier use. It's worth shopping around for a product you like.