Truth: The clouds may reduce sunlight somewhat, but plenty of those ultraviolet rays still reach us—and your skin.

It’s necessary to wear sunscreen even on cloudy days. The clouds will help to reduce the overall heat that we feel, along with the brightness of the sun, but ultraviolet rays will easily penetrate the clouds.

Remember that the radiation is often invisible and without a feel, so even though it’s a cloudy and cool day, it doesn’t mean that you aren’t being showered with potentially harmful rays.

Truth: The sun’s rays aren’t any less harmful to your skin during the winter than they are during the summer.

Dermatologists recommend using sunscreen all-year-round for optimum protection. Similar to a cloudy day, we feel less heat during the winter months and the sun seems more dim. Neither of these facts will reduce the amount of ultraviolet rays that are contacting your skin. Regardless of temperature or light, if the sun is out then you need to be protecting yourself from it.

Truth: Actually, you only need about 10 to 30 minutes of sun exposure several times per week to make all the vitamin D your body needs.

Note that people with darker skin may need a little more. Plus, it’s possible to meet some or all of your vitamin D requirements through fortified food alone. A vitamin D deficiency will only likely develop after months without sunlight. Going to the grocery store, checking your mail, or taking out the trash should be plenty of time in the sun to get you all the vitamin D that your body needs.

Truth: Tans don’t prevent sunburn, and there is no such thing as a safe tan (with the sole exception of sunless tanning products).

Every time UV rays strike your skin, the DNA of your skin cells sustain damage. The skin becomes tan because the body creates more pigment to shield the skin from the harmful rays.

While a skin tan may be aesthetically pleasing to some, it’s actually a sign of distressed skin. What it means is that UVB rays have burned the cells of your skin and the natural response is for your skin to produce more melanin in an attempt to protect itself against further damage. Melanin is responsible for the color of our skin and the more that is produced the darker skin will become. In this case we call this darkening of skin a “tan”.

Truth: There is no natural immunity to skin cancer.

While it’s true that our bodies will produce more melanin as an attempt to prevent damage from the sun’s radiation, it is nowhere near powerful enough of a prevention. As a result, people with all types of skin colors and pigmentations are susceptible to skin cancer.

In fact, while skin cancer is more common amongst people with light skin tones, the death rate is actually higher for people with dark skin tones. This is most often because it can be harder to detect in people with darker skin tones, but it could be the result of darker skinned people insufficiently protecting themselves from the sun due to the perpetuation of this myth.

Truth: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has very strict standards set in place and regulates sunscreens in the same way as over the counter medications.

Their job is to protect people from ingesting a dangerous drug and they are responsible for preventing unnecessary deaths that could go from it. While the FDA has made it clear that sunscreen is a safe and effective option for protection from the sun, if you are still feeling wary then you can use mineral sunscreens containing zinc or titanium oxide that are also effective.