Most people miss 10 per cent of their face when applying sunscreen, increasing skin cancer risk

Researchers from the University of Liverpool found that when applying sunscreen people miss on average 10 per cent of their face.

The research was presented at the British Association of Dermatologists’ Annual Conference, where the team explained the experiment, which involved 57 participants, male and female, applying sunscreen to their faces as they typically would, with no instruction. Photos were taken of each participant with a UV-sensitive camera before and after application.

On average the participants missed 9.5 per cent of their whole face.
The most commonly missed areas were the eyelids (13.5 per cent) and the area between the inner corner of the eye and bridge of the nose (77 per cent).
The researchers concluded that this was probably due to the manufacturers’ warnings to keep sunscreen products away from the eyes. Dr Keven Hamill, from the University of Liverpool’s Department of Eye and Vision
Science comments: “Our research shows that simple health messaging can help improve this problem, and we hope that industry groups and public health campaigners can take this on board.”