Spray sunscreens are worse than we thought: a laboured analysis

Sunscreen sprays seem like the perfect way to reapply sunscreen. But how effective are they? I did some experiments to find out, and the results were pretty shocking.

0:00 Intro
0:33 Why sprays are tricky
2:33 Where does the spray go?
5:04 More complicatedness: Volatile ingredients
8:49 How much lands on your face?
10:37 What if you try really hard?
14:53 What if you try even harder?
17:21 Even coverage?
18:45 Aerosol sprays are… worse
22:27 What we learned

🙋🏻 I'm Michelle, a chemistry PhD, cosmetic chemist and science educator, here to explain how beauty products work, debunk myths, and help you make smarter decisions about your skincare, hair and makeup!

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[lygophilia]

"plus he wasn't really spraying the spray like a normal person." This is how I describe things my husband does, as well. 😆

[dehosyt]

You could tell her scientific background with how critical she is with every one of her experiment and how convoluted she has to be to figure out and solve every flaw

[tavolinov.]

Tbh the results are insane-. I expected It wouldn't be good but I really did not expect it would be THIS bad...
And it's not like I would ever think "Yeah!! It's so REASONABLE and USER FRIENDLY! Obviously I NEED TO SPRAY IT 180 TIMES to MAYBE get enough protection from this!!"

[JasonAtlas]

I live in Scotland. Last time we saw the sun my family thought a meteor had come to destroy earth and we fled into heather. I am now for some reason invested in sunscreen.

[rhruozo]

The research design stuff is every bit as interesting as the sunscreen information

[janette]

Poor Omar, what a good sport. The toilet sheet was hilarious!

[seanvalentinus]

okay, so i’ve gotten a toilet seat, hung it around my neck, and sprayed sunscreen up both nostrils. that should pretty much cover me for the day, right? do i have to keep wearing the toilet seat all day, or can i take it off?

[mv]

OMG the best channel ever. I believe in science. That's how you move forward in life. No BS! Science, numbers,

[splendidcolors]

My favorite use of stick sunscreen is to prevent hair dye from staining my face. I hadn't been using it as sunscreen because I couldn't apply it evenly enough and it was visibly whitish when I used enough. But it was on my counter when I dyed my hair purple for the first time in years so I tried it as a stain block. It turns out to be easy to apply to the face, neck, and ears and effectively prevented hair dyes from staining my skin. (I know petroleum jelly is what people usually use, but it's difficult to apply around the hairline without smearing it into my hair, and hair that touches it gets coated and won't take dye.) I realize the SPF ingredients are irrelevant to hair dye blocking, but the waterproof "dry finish" base was useful.

[KittySheep]

This all really explains why I got burned so much as a kid, and have moles popping up so much. I was expected to spray my own sunscreen, without any adult help, for as long as I can remember. I thought that getting burned even with sunscreen was just expected. Thankfully I use lotions and protective clothing now.

[lumina]

Me and my bff were in a debate about whether sprays or sticks were better to use (especially for replications) turns out we both were wrong LOL

[ER__]

I cackled with laughter at imperial heathens, I felt seen and attacked all at once hahaha. Loved this video. Greetings from USA.

[QTKLo]

Ten years ago, my kids got bad sunburns while we were on vacation. We were using aresol spray sunscreen. We haven't used sunscreen in that form since that day.

[TheOneAndOnlyZouzaa]

So basically it’s not worth using sunscreen sprays as a form of reapplication, best to stick to cream based sunscreens

[chaoticpoodle]

The best sunscreen is the one you'll use. If it takes wasting 80% of the product to get my parents to wear ANY amount of sunscreen, so be it. Though, I do wish SPF was measured under conditions that even vaguely resemble typical use

[sonjaforrester]

I will never buy spray again. I didn't like it before but allowed my child to use it for reapplication on the body. But it doesn't provide good enough protection. Boy will he be mad. Thank you for all this very hard work.

[knowledgehunter_]

Hands down! Sunscreen Queen of Internet. I think since covid period I started to watch your videos. Heavily educational. Love love love that. Thank you for all your hard work.
Also I have observed that many doctors, estheticians, influencers started to preach after watching your videos but unfortunately people don't give you that credit.

Btw Imperial heathens. 😂😂😂

[sophiafbezerra]

I'd love to see a video on SPF lib balms

[giochacon]

LOVE HOW GEEKY this is !!!! thank you for ALL your efforts.

[kaw]

Wild coincidence! We are having a heat wave in our area and I actually questioned the spray I was applying. Thankfully YouTube has grown telepathic and recommended the exact video I needed.