March 8, 2025, 2:10 pm | Read time: 5 minutes
Spring is in the air! Even if the sunny days are good for the soul at the moment, UV radiation can already be damaging to the skin. Here’s how to protect yourself.
Oops, what’s that bright, shining ball in the sky? The sun is an unusual sight after the gray winter months. However, what pleases the soul can pose risks for the skin. After the dark winter months, the skin is particularly sensitive to the sun’s UV rays, as Cologne dermatologist Uta Schlossberger warns. Anyone who spends time in the sun without protection on the sunny spring days we are currently being blessed with may end up with a sunburn — not to mention the fact that UV radiation causes cell damage that can one day develop into skin cancer. FITBOOK tells you what good sun protection looks like in March and the other spring months.
Overview
Should I Apply Sunscreen in March?
A look at a weather app will provide clarity: many of them show the UV index. On a scale from 1 to 11+, this indicates how high the health risk from UV radiation is in the respective region.
The Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) advises that eyes and skin should be protected from the sun from a value of 3. According to the authority, this can be reached as early as March in Germany. In Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, it can also reach a value of 4, as evaluations show. You can check the values for your region at any time on this BfS page.
What Is the UV Index?
The Federal Office for Radiation Protection defines the UV index as the expected daily peak value of sunburn-effective UV radiation on the ground. In other words, the higher the UV index, the more quickly unprotected skin can suffer sunburn. The scale is open at the top — similar to the Richter scale for earthquakes — and indicates the strength of the radiation from 1 to 11+.1 The index was defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) and functions uniformly throughout the world. If, for example, a value of 7 is measured in Germany, it has the same significance as a UV index of 7 in Australia.
What Does Good Sun Protection Look Like in March or Spring?
“What some people only use in summer can already be important in spring,” says Inge Paulini, President of the BfS. If you avoid the blazing sun and move into the shade, you are already doing a lot of things right — even now in spring. “The most important thing is to avoid intense sunlight as much as possible. The second step is to cover your skin: long sleeves, long trouser legs, a hat, and sunglasses are recommended,” says Paulini. The third step is to apply sun cream to uncovered skin.
Don’t forget your lips and eyes! Unlike the skin, the lips do not produce melanin, which acts as the body’s own protection against UV radiation. Another part of the body where you might not initially suspect sunburn is the eyes. However, these can also become inflamed from too much UV radiation.
Can I Still Use Last Year’s Sun Cream?
If you ask dermatologist Uta Schlossberger, this is often not a problem. “However, you need to do a few tests, such as smelling it. If it smells funny, it has to go.”
Even if the sun cream has separated into a water and a fat layer, it should no longer be used. According to Schlossberger, the sun cream bottle from the car, which has been exposed to high temperature fluctuations for months, should also be thrown away.
Incidentally, the symbol on the packaging that provides information about the shelf life of the sun cream is an open jar with a number, for example, “18 M”. In this case, the sun cream has a shelf life of 18 months, explains the Industrieverband für Körperpflege- und Waschmittel (IKW). Important: The time only starts to run when the sun cream is opened. This is because only then does air get into the product — which has an influence on its effectiveness over time.
For example, if you find a sun cream labeled “12 M” or “18 M” that was opened during your last summer vacation, you can still use it. In some cases, there is also a specific best-before date on the packaging — often in conjunction with an hourglass symbol.
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What If I Use Expired Sunscreen?
Expired sunscreen does not serve its purpose because oxygen in opened tubes or sprays leads to oxidation. As a result of this process, the ingredients change and the protective function of the sun cream can no longer be maintained correctly. There is then a risk of sunburn and possibly serious skin damage as a result.
What’s more, the substances that can be produced in the process could well be carcinogenic. In 2021, researchers showed that creams containing the UV protection filter octocrylene formed benzophenones over time, which had a carcinogenic effect in animal tests.2 Octocrylene is a synthetically produced UV filter that primarily filters and absorbs UVB rays in sunlight. Until 2023, the UV filter was permitted as an ingredient in sun cream in the EU, but it has since been banned.
Less serious, but also unpleasant, is the likelihood of skin intolerance reactions.
If in doubt, you should actually throw away old sun cream. Incidentally, you don’t have to fork out a lot of money for a good new sun cream. Every year, experts at “Stiftung Warentest” and “Öko-Test” find that even discount and drugstore sun creams provide effective protection from the sun.
With material from dpa