Harmful UV rays can damage collagen and make skin age at an accelerated rate, even when you're indoors. While many people only think to wear sunscreen on bright, sunny days while out at the beach, even cloudy days sitting next to a window can potentially damage your skin. Finding a sunscreen that protects against these rays is a bit more complex than choosing one with a high SPF, so check out this guide to protecting your skin from the sun all year long.

Wide Spectrum

Protecting your skin from accelerated aging means that you need to protect it from UVA rays. This type of sun ray can penetrate through glass and clouds, and it causes skin damage and wrinkles. However, the complicated part about protecting your skin from UVA rays is that the SPF label on sunscreen doesn't mean a thing - SPF only measures UVB protection.

While a high SPF rating is a good thing, because UVB rays are quite harmful to your skin, you need to go a little further to protect your skin from premature aging. At the very least, look for sunscreens that advertise that they're a wide spectrum product. If the sunscreen doesn't state anywhere that it's wide spectrum, it doesn't protect against UVA, and you should look for something else.

PPD

Some imported sunscreens that can be found in drugstores have alternate measurements that include both UVB and UVA protection ratings. European sunscreens use a PPD measurement, which stands for persistent pigment darkening. This measurement is used to show how much a product protects you from UVA rays.

For example, if you found the French brand La Roche Posay at a drugstore, their sunscreen might state that it has an SPF of 50 and a PPD of 15. This means that the sunscreen would do a great job of protecting you from UVB and UVA rays alike; a PPD level of 10 protects you from about 90% of UVA rays, so anything that has a level of 10 or above is good.

Makeup

If you wear makeup regularly, you should also consider picking up a finishing powder that contains physical sun blocking minerals. While sunscreens that rely upon chemicals have to make physical contact with your skin to work, minerals like zinc and titanium oxide don't, so they're a great choice for applying over your makeup. You can also use chemical and mineral sunscreens together for even more protection.

Preventing your skin from being damaged is one of the best ways to look young throughout your years. Remember to always wear sunscreen, even on days where it's cloudy or you're mostly staying indoors. For other anti-aging products, visit a company like Pharmacy Solutions.