Sunscreen is designed to absorb UV radiation so that damaging rays don’t reach the skin. It appears in black in the video for the same reason that a black t-shirt appears black in normal sunlight: It’s absorbing all of the light’s energy, rather than reflecting it. It acts, in other words, like a bulletproof vest for your skin. And Leveritt’s video offers a compelling image to accompany the “wear sunscreen!” refrain we’ve so often heard from our dermatologists. MORE: What Having Skin Cancer Really Feels Like So is it for real? “The video is definitely a party trick, but in a good way,” says Joshua Zeichner, dermatologist and director of cosmetic research at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City. “People hear that they should use sunscreen, but they are not truly believing the harmful effects of UV light on the skin. This shows people what is going on under the skin and gets through to them.” How can you tell what kind of damage your skin is hiding? Unless you’re willing to drop a few hundred bucks on an ultraviolet camera of your own, you won’t be snapping sun spot selfies anytime soon. But, Zeichner says, some dermatologists make use of a system called Visia, which takes a multi-faceted portrait of the skin, capturing info on wrinkles, pores, bacteria, and, of course, sun damage. (A handful of Whole Foods Market locations across the U.S. have also installed the system for free trials in their beauty departments.) Still, this type of high-tech imaging isn’t widely available or affordable. Luckily, just about everyone can get their hands on the low-tech solution. You guessed it: sunscreen. MORE: Here’s How To Find The Right Sunscreen For Your Skin
