The right reasons to choose a sunscreen—and the right way to use it

By: Claire McCarthy, M.D., Faculty Editor, Harvard Health Publications When you buy a sunscreen, what makes you buy one brand over another? For many people, the reasons they choose aren’t the ones most likely to keep them safe from the sun. In a study recently published in the journal JAMA Dermatology, researchers looked at the top 1% of sunscreens being sold on Amazon.com as of December 2015 (65 out of 6,500). By “top,” I…