Why Egyptian skin needs a different SPF strategy
Most SPF marketed in Egypt is built for paler skin and ignores post-inflammatory pigmentation. Here's the rule we follow.
By Dr. Seham El-Masry
Most SPF marketed in Egypt is built around two assumptions: lighter European skin tones and short sun exposure windows. Cairo lives the opposite reality — Fitzpatrick IV–V skin under twelve months of strong UV.
What we recommend: a tinted mineral SPF 50 with iron oxides, reapplied every two to three hours when outdoors. Iron oxides protect against visible light, which is the trigger for melasma — not just UV.
On Hosary specifically, where most of our patients walk between meetings, we recommend keeping a stick reapplication SPF in your bag. The 4 PM Cairo light is brutal in summer.
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