Kayla Young
More and more people are embracing the use of sunscreen in their daily lives. However, you might not fully understand the essence of protecting your head from the sun. The CDC states that exposure to the sun for even 15 minutes can harm the skin.Â
Therefore, it is essential that you remember to protect your head – forehead included – from sunburns and heightened cancer risk.
But do bangs protect your forehead from the sun? You don’t apply sunscreen under your scalp — what about your bangs?
In most cases, you should still apply sunscreen under your bangs, unless yours are really thick!
We’ll discuss it below.
Contents
Do Bangs Protect Your Forehead Forehead?
Most health authorities suggest that you wear sunscreen along your hair line, and even in your hair if it’s thin. These areas often suffer burns, and can be particularly prone to issues later in life.
That said, your hair will provide some protection from the sun, including on your bangs. Hair thickness, color, and density impact the level of protection provided by hair. The results exhibit that your hair can shield UVA and UVB radiation from the sun. This characteristic increases significantly according to the hair thickness, density, and availability of melanin.Â
Your hair will provide some protection from the sun, including on your bangs.
Therefore, it would help to consider your hair, bangs included, an essential and natural sun shield in UV-related skin cancer prevention.Â
But it’s not your only shield.
Think of it this way: if your bangs are as thick as your hair, and your hair is not thinning, you probably don’t need sunscreen under your bangs. But if your bangs are thinner than the rest of your hair, put it on!
If your bangs are as thick as your hair, and your hair is not thinning, you probably don’t need sunscreen under your bangs. But if your bangs are thinner than the rest of your hair, put it on!
Ensure to Apply Sunscreen to Your Hairline
Regardless of whether your head is full of hair, applying sunscreen to your scalp and forehead is important. Such regions, with parted hair, can be affected by sunburns.
You should also avoid the tendency of most people to apply sunscreen to the face and leave an extended stripe untreated along your hairline and forehead.
Though you might have beautiful wispy bangs, the extra protection from the sunscreen is still important.Â
Results from Australian research show that even heads full of hair offer surprisingly minimal protection from the sun for your skin. The research found that, on average, such a head will only offer sun protection in the range of 5 and 17spf.
This is considerably low compared to the average SPF rating for sunscreen of 30.Â
Complementing Your Bangs
Sunscreen for your forehead, scalp, and hair can offer a comfortable and more convenient alternative to applying general body sunscreen. However, body sunscreen tends to leave you with greasy hair, which only gets worse on your bangs, with oily scalp and forehead acne!Â
Additionally, sunscreens with titanium and zinc oxide serving as physical sunblock leave behind a whitish residue that is undesirable.
On the other hand, spray-on sunscreen feels better if it has a quick-dry feature. Â
There are also sunscreen conditioners though these are supplements instead of complete solutions. When you plan to spend the day outdoors exposed to the sun, use one before to help you but do not depend on it alone.
You can also use sunscreen-based body washes to supplement your bangs for forehead protection.Â
Put on a Hat
Wearing a hat offers better protection from the sun than sunscreen, and may be used in conjunction. In addition, head coverings like hats assist the bangs in protecting your forehead and scalp from the harmful effects of the sun.
Wearing a hat offers better protection from the sun than sunscreen, and may be used in conjunction.
As you choose a hat to protect your forehead and scalp, consider the brims. Hats with wide all-around brims, different from a baseball cap, offer protection to the face, forehead, neck, and ears. For such added protection, choose hats that are about three inches wide.
A man is more likely to wear a hat without brims on every side. Therefore you need to be keen and apply sunscreen to regions where the brims might not cover.
Donning any hat is, however, much better than not having one at all.Â
Communicate With Your Barber or Hairdresser
Though it is uncommon to walk to your barber or hairdresser looking for head protection, bangs can serve to protect your health. Usually, people choose them to look younger, or to hide thinning hair. But they have other advantages too!
First, consult your stylist, hairdresser, or barber to understand possible alterations to the scalp and forehead on cutting the hair. Then, they are in a better place to recommend the ideal length of bangs and how best they can protect your forehead from the sun.Â
Conclusion
Hair plays a vital role in protecting the scalp, forehead, and skin in general from harmful effects of exposure to the sun. Therefore, the UPF (Ultraviolet Protection Factor) of bangs can offer protection from the sun.
Nonetheless, it would be best if you complimented the bangs with other measures such as wearing a hat and using sunscreen.Â
