On social media, some influencers are praising a bad practice for the summer. Do not follow the advice of these pseudo-experts, or you may have serious consequences for your health!
Social media is a treasure trove of information when it comes to beauty and wellness. You can find makeup and skincare tips, product reviews, and great recommendations, all while sharing your passion with a large community. The problem is that these platforms are also home to a lot of misinformation, including on health topics.
You may have seen the hashtags #antisunscreen, #nosunscreen or #toxicsunscreen on Instagram or TikTok. This is a trend promoted by influencers that comes back every summer and consists of completely doing without sunscreen, even if it means getting sunburned. According to these pseudo-experts, of whom American TikTok star Shannon Fairweather is one of the spokespersons, these products are composed of chemical substances that are dangerous for health, contain endocrine disruptors and deprive the skin of vitamin D.
Worse still, it is these products that are responsible for the increase in cancer cases in the world and not exposure to the sun without protection. Some influencers, followed by tens of thousands of subscribers, also call for avoiding all creams with a name other than “zinc”, and refuse to put on their skin what they would not eat or cannot pronounce.
This advice might seem funny, but it has very real and harmful consequences for health. In France, the number of new cases of skin cancer has more than tripled between 1990 and 2023 according to the site’s figures e-cancer.fr. Every year, there are no fewer than 100,000 new cases in the country. However, exposure to UV rays is the major factor in the appearance of these cancers. Conversely, no scientist has reported cases of cancer due to the daily use of sunscreen. The advice of pseudo-experts on social networks is not based on any study at all.
The application of sunscreen is recommended all over the world, regardless of skin tone, in order to reduce the risks of skin cancer and melanoma. And there is no need to worry about the vitamin D deficiencies that its use could cause! Because if this vitamin, synthesized under the effect of UV rays, is indeed essential for us, a daily exposure of 10 to 15 minutes of the face and arms is more than enough. Be careful, however, remember that expired sunscreen should not be used. Once it is opened, it must be used during the season and should not be reused the following summer, as its effects diminish over time!