The notion of SPF is evolving.

“We’ve seen over the years an evolution with everyday products that have the opportunity to protect people from skin damage,” said Kevin Cureton, president and chief executive officer of Solésence at WWD Los Angeles Beauty Forum. “It has become really the story of SPF. We’ve heard a lot about different types of treatments that are available by protecting people from skin damage. While they’re having fun with the products that they enjoy and use every day, that’s really what we’re seeing increasingly happen with SPF.”

Cureton said the notion of SPF has gone well beyond protecting from a sunburn to more so being about improving overall skin health. And now, SPF and UV protection have become part of the overall broader umbrella within health and wellness.

“The skin is your largest organ,” continued Cureton. “From research that’s been done over the last 20 to 30 years, sun damage in particular is one of the major ways of compromising skin. And skin cancer is one of the major causes of health compromise for humans.”

At its core, sun protection helps prevent skin cancer. One of the biggest barriers to entry is educating consumers on SPF usage and reapplying, alongside getting consumers to use it in the first place.

He explained that while consumers use the word SPF regularly, UV protection is the proper terminology — with UVB and UVA protections in particular what they should be looking for.

“One thing for people that have deeper skin tones, there’s still a fallacy that you don’t need SPF protection — that’s not true,” said Cureton. “We’ve seen an increase in skin cancer among people that are in my community or other communities with deeper skin tones. It’s an important part of educating people about what’s available and why it’s important to do so.”

Darker skin tones can also suffer from melasma, with dark spots and darkening of skin based on “improper protection or lack of protecting themselves at all.”

The industry needs to gather together to communicate to consumers about improving skin health through beauty products that they have developed and sell, Cureton said. Most of the beauty industry’s SPF products on the market today are complexion-based — and only applied once.

He noted that by enhancing and promoting products that are geared toward reapplication, such as powders, it would help educate consumers on reapplying multiple times throughout the day. But the formats and availability for reapplication are still somewhat limited for people wanting to use it consistently.

“We have to be building products that consumers want to use every day. That means that they have to be transparent on their skin, they have to feel like it’s an important part of their experience. It comes back to investing in technology, formulation and manufacturing of products that are useful for all types of people, despite different types of skin tones, textures, conditions or whatever it may be so they can use the product in an enjoyable way,” concluded Cureton.