Sales of makeup and skincare with a SPF reached 1.1 billion US dollars in US prestige department stores from June 2012 to May 2013, reports The NPD Group. The market research firm notes it corresponds to a 24 percent increase from three years ago.

Whether it is health concerns, or a more superficial fear of looking older, the intensified focus on sun protection from the beauty and health care industries is having a real impact on consumers, and the market,” says Karen Grant, vice president and senior global industry analyst, The NPD Group.

According to The NPD Group, most of the current growth in products with SPF continues to come from skincare, where dollar sales have consistently increased by double-digits over the past three years. Overall, dollar sales of makeup with SPF saw a boost in the 12 months ending May 2012 (June 2011 - May 2012).

In makeup and skincare, products with SPF 15 remain the largest segment in sun protection with more than half of dollar sales. Growth of makeup options in the SPF 15 segment were driven by a 6 percent higher average selling price compared to last year, but it was options which offered slightly higher levels of sun protection, SPF 20 and 25, that saw double-digit increases based heavily on an increase in units sold.

When it came to skincare, the majority of the growth occurred where the SPF was greater than 20. In particular, SPF 30, the second largest SPF segment in skincare at 13 percent of sales, grew significantly in the past 12 months ending May 2013. Sun protection products at the highest SPF levels of SPF 50 grew 24 percent from June 2012 to May 2013 and now account for almost one third of all in sun sales.

It’s been said that ‘a good sunscreen is the best anti-aging product you can get’, and not only are consumers buying more products with SPF they are spending a little more on them to get that higher SPF number for better protection,” adds Karen Grant.

Also, it is important to note that products claiming to protect the skin against sunburns are classified as OTC drugs in the USA.