It is essential to wear sunscreen to safeguard your skin from harmful UV rays. According to experts, you should renew your sunscreen every two hours, and possibly sooner if you are swimming or perspiring outside. Remembering this can be difficult at times. Fortunately, there are new UV stickers available that profess to aid in reminding you.
I tried out several brands offering UV stickers that notify when your sunscreen is no longer protecting you. In order to ensure precise outcomes, I tested these UV stickers with various types of sunscreens – mineral, chemical, and a combination of both. The results I obtained were surprising, and you can discover what you need to know about reapplying sunscreen and how the utilization of UV stickers can help you by reading further.
Top Sunscreens of 2023 featured on CNET
What do UV stickers do?
UV stickers are designed to identify ultraviolet radiation emanating from the sun. Once you place sunscreen on the sticker, it should become transparent, indicating that you are safeguarded from detrimental rays. If the sticker changes to purple, it implies that you have lost that protection and you need to reapply the sunscreen. These stickers aim to notify you beforehand when it is time to reapply sunscreen, avoiding the traditional method of discovering a sunburn with painful, red skin.
I tried out the UV stickers from SpotMyUV, which can easily be purchased on Amazon and Target for approximately $15. It’s important to mention that I initially tried the UVIFY UV Stickers, a cheaper option to SpotMyUV. Unfortunately, those stickers did not prove to be effective for me and did not turn transparent even after applying several layers of sunscreen. However, I am grateful that the SpotMyUV stickers changed color as expected.
SpotMyUV Stickers
A reminder to reapply sunscreen.
Available for $26 on Amazon.
SpotMyUV stickers do not test the efficacy or SPF level of your sunscreen, as that is the job of specialized labs. However, they signal when your sunscreen may no longer be shielding you or working as proficiently.
How can UV stickers be utilized?
I tried these out on my sunny balcony.
Caroline Igo/CNET
I adhered to the instructions at the rear of the package. Initially, I peeled off the stickers from the paper and put them onto my upper arm or any other skin that was exposed to the sun. Then I covered both the exposed skin and sticker with sunscreen, waited for 30 seconds, and gently massaged the sunscreen in. Following a minute in the sun (or more if the sky was cloudy), the stickers transformed from dark purple to transparent. A transparent sticker indicated that I was shielded.
For my personal experiment, I utilized a tester on my upper arm, followed by four stickers on my upper legs. After waiting 30 seconds to allow the sunscreen to absorb, I proceeded to rub it in. Although, on TikTok I have come across individuals who wait for a complete 15 minutes before rubbing the sunscreen in and stepping out. Nevertheless, I believe our outcomes were comparable.
Assessing my personal sun-sensitive decals in direct sunlight.
Caroline Igo, a CNET correspondent, tried out the SpotMyUV stickers on a sunny day with a UV index of 9 and little cloud cover. Over a period of 2 hours, she exposed herself to the sun by sitting on her balcony and walking her dog.
I conducted a trial using four distinct sunscreen labels with four detection stickers. Among these sunscreens, two belonged to the chemical category, one was mineral and the remaining product invested in a combination of both mineral and chemical solutions.
I applied Supergoop! Unseen sunscreen to the top left UV sticker, which is infused with avobenzone, homosalate, octisalate, and octocrylene, and has an SPF of 40. Unlike most chemical sunscreens, this sunscreen is translucent and lightweight. I was curious to test whether this formula would effectively cover the UV sticker.
Everyday Humans Oh My Bod sunscreen covered the lower right sticker, which contains avobenzone, homosalate, octisalate and octocrylene – just like Supergoop. However, unlike Supergoop, Everyday Humans has a more classic sunscreen appearance and texture, with an SPF of 50.
Mineral-based sunscreen
I applied EleVen by Venus Williams Unrivaled Sun Serum onto the bottom left UV sticker. Formulated with zinc oxide and offering an SPF of 40, it is regarded as the top mineral sunscreen. My reason for selecting this product was twofold: I wanted to test out a mineral-based formula with the stickers.
Combination sunscreen
Finally, I applied EltaMD UV Daily sunscreen on the bottom right label. This sun protection is light in texture and includes both zinc oxide and octinoxate. It made for a good point of comparison with the results of the all-mineral sunscreen.
My results were not as I had expected.
I was surprised and somewhat puzzled by the outcome of the UV stickers upon my initial application. It is worth mentioning that a sticky film came off after waiting for 30 seconds and gently rubbing in the sunscreen on the stickers. Although this happened with every sticker, I am uncertain if it is by design as I could not find any information on SpotMyUV’s website. The website states that each sticker comprises three layers, so it is plausible that the first layer peeled off during the sunscreen application, potentially affecting my findings. Nonetheless, the following is what I observed.
The outcomes I achieved within the initial minute:
Caroline Igo/CNET observed the following changes in the color of different sunscreens after application: Supergoop! Unseen (Chemical, SPF 40) turned into a light purple shade, Unrivaled Sun Serum (Mineral, SPF 40) turned only slightly lighter, EltaMD UV Daily (Combo, SPF 40) turned almost completely clear, and Everyday Humans Oh My Bod (Chemical, SPF 50) also turned almost completely clear.
My performance within the initial 5 minutes:
Caroline Igo/CNET reported that Supergoop! Unseen (Chemical, SPF 40) became clear with a hint of purple, Unrivaled Sun Serum (Mineral, SPF 40) only lightened in color, EltaMD UV Daily (Combo, SPF 40) turned clear with a hint of light purple, and Everyday Humans Oh My Bod (Chemical, SPF 50) turned completely clear.
The stickers remained unchanged until approximately the first half-hour had passed. However, the mineral sunscreen sticker began to exhibit a more purplish hue, prompting me to apply Everyday Humans Oh My Bod on three of the four test subjects once again.
Here are my findings after 30 minutes and a double application of chemical sunscreen:
Caroline Igo/CNET reported that Supergoop! Unseen (Chemical, SPF 40) became transparent, as did Unrivaled Sun Serum (Mineral, SPF 40) and EltaMD UV Daily (Combo, SPF 40). On the other hand, Everyday Humans Oh My Bod (Chemical, SPF 50) remained clear.
The outcome I obtained after one hour:
CNET/Caroline Igo reported that during a sunscreen test, Supergoop! Unseen (Chemical, SPF 40) turned a sliver into light purple, whereas Unrivaled Sun Serum (Mineral, SPF 40) remained completely clear. EltaMD UV Daily (Combo, SPF 40) turned light purple, and Everyday Humans Oh My Bod (Chemical, SPF 50) began to turn light purple.
After that, I went for a walk under the sun. I observed that the sticker positioned at the bottom left, which consisted of a layer of mineral sunscreen and a layer of chemical sunscreen, remained unaffected. In contrast, the sticker placed at the bottom right, which comprised only one layer of chemical sunscreen, turned purple. Similarly, the sticker located at the top left, containing two layers of chemical sunscreen, had a slight tinge of dark purple. As for the sticker at the top right, it had one layer of combo sunscreen and a layer of chemical, and it turned almost entirely purple.
The outcome I achieved after a duration of two hours:
At that point, the position of the sun had shifted. Caroline Igo/CNET observed that Supergoop! Unseen (Chemical, SPF 40) turned a dark purple sliver, Unrivaled Sun Serum (Mineral, SPF 40) turned into a splotchy light purple, EltaMD UV Daily (Combo, SPF 40) turned completely dark purple, and Everyday Humans Oh My Bod (Chemical, SPF 50) turned into a splotchy purple.
Reapplying sunscreen every two hours is the recommended practice, which is the conclusion of my experiment. For the top face sunscreens in 2023, check out CNET.
Do UV stickers actually function?
The UV stickers have effectively changed to clear color when they were covered with sunscreen and exposed to sunlight during my testing. Therefore, I can say that these stickers work to some extent. However, the outcomes that I obtained did not precisely show how well every sunscreen protected me from the sun. One of the stickers, which I applied with mineral sunscreen, could not completely change to a clear color. It is possible that I did not put on enough sunscreen at the beginning. Even though the brand asserts to work with both mineral and chemical sunscreen, I could not discover any research studies to support this claim. Also, the Supergoop sticker did not change as clear as the Everyday Humans sticker did. This might be due to the formulation being very different from the typical sunscreen. By analyzing their website, it seems that it was designed to operate with ordinary white, dense sunscreen.
The content provided in this article is solely intended for educational and informational purposes and should not be construed as health or medical advice. It is highly recommended to seek the advice of a physician or any other qualified healthcare professional for any concerns or queries related to medical conditions or health goals.
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