Knowing the skin's phototype helps protect it from the sun

What is the appropriate protection factor? How long can we stay in the sun? Sometimes we may have asked ourselves these questions while lying on the beach or in the pool. And that adequate sun protection is the key to the health of our skin and prevents premature aging and the aggressions that melanoma can cause.

Knowing the different phototypes can help us take the necessary measures to avoid these risks. A phototype is your skin's ability to adapt to sun exposure. We are born with varying degrees of tolerance to the sun (based on pigmentation, hair, and eye color), and this is described in the numerical classification that Thomas B. Fritzpatrick invented in 1975.

Thus, a phototype is a set of characteristics that determine whether the skin tans or not, how and to what extent this occurs. The lower this capacity, the less it will counteract the effects of solar radiation on the skin.

Find out which group your skin belongs to

Phototype I: very light milky white skin. They are people with blue and red eyes and even freckles who always burn (come off after a burn) and never tan. For this group, the recommended coefficient is 50.

Phototype II: They are people with light and white skin (freckled or without freckles) who blush easily. They also have blonde hair, blue or green eyes, and while they burn easily, they do tan a bit. This group also needs a factor of 50.

Phototype III: They are those that are pinkish white, burn moderately, but gradually tan. This is a phototype of a European. The recommended coefficient for this group is 30-50.

Phototype IV: people with a brownish skin tone that is also very easily pigmented. This group is characterized by dark hair and eyes and rarely burns. They need a sun protection factor of 30-50.

Phototype V: people with brown skin are at this level, for example, the Arab and Indian races. Without sun exposure, the skin color is already brown, they tan quickly and intensively and very rarely burn. A ratio of 15-20 is recommended.

Phototype VI: This is the phototype of the black race, whose dermis never burns in the sun. People in this group have dark eyes and hair and require a factor of 15-20.