Do you wear enough sunscreen?

Do you wear enough sunscreen?

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Story Published: Jun 19, 2008 at 7:02 AM PDT

Story Updated: Nov 20, 2008 at 9:53 PM PDT

By Herb Weisbaum & Good Housekeeping

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We all know how important it is to use a good sunscreen. It can keep your skin from premature aging and, more importantly, reduce your chance of getting skin cancer.

But it's also important to know just how much screen you should put on to protect yourself from the sun's harmful rays.

Alyssa Hertzig, beauty editor of the Good Housekeeping Research Institute, says a full ounce per application is recommended by the Skin Cancer Foundation.

"Now that's a lot of product, and from what we've seen at the pool, at the beach, a lot of people probably aren't applying that much," she said.

So Good Housekeeping conducted a test to see just how much people are really using. The institute asked 15 volunteers to test a product.

"We told them to apply it on their body and on their face as if they were going to spend a day at the beach. We measured the products before and after they were used, so we could determine the amounts that was used," said Birnur Aral, the institute's health and beauty director.

The testers' average application was only 0.3 ounces -- less than a third of the recommended amount.

Not sure what an ounce of sunscreen looks like? Good Housekeeping has a couple of simple guidelines.

"A four-ounce tube is going to be about four applications; a three-ounce tube - about three applications and so on. So basically, if you have the same tube for the entire summer, or worse, from last summer, you're pretty much not using enough," said Hertzig.

Remember: reapply that sunscreen at least every two hours. Reapply more often if you go into the water or are really sweating. And make sure to use a broad spectrum product that really blocks those aging UVA rays and the cancer-causing UVB rays.

More Information:

The Skin Cancer Foundation

Sun Protection & Sunscreens

Sunscreens: Some are short on protection

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