Sun and sunbathing.
We all adore the warmth on our skin and the beautiful colour we get from sunbeams. But how about we keep ourselves safe first?
HOW TO PICK THE RIGHT SUNSCREEN
Skin is the largest organ on our body, and the one most impacted by our environment, especially the sun. It is crucial for your health to take good care of it, and sunscreen is an essential product we have to use to keep it safe.
How does the sun impact our skin?
Sun emits ultraviolet radiation that can be in the form of UVB and UVA. Although it gives us our daily dose of Vitamin D, harmful rays can cause dry skin, skin aging, severe sunburns, and even skin cancer.
What’s the difference between UVB and UVA?
UVB rays damage the superficial layers of the skin and cause sunburns. Also, they play a big role in the development of skin cancer.
UVA rays damage your skin much deeper than the UVB, causing skin aging and damaging the DNA, which also leads to skin cancer. UVA was considered much less dangerous than the UVB rays, but today we know that UVA contributes to the skin by damaging it’s DNA.
HOW TO PROTECT SKIN FROM UVB AND UVA RAYS
To protect our skin from UVB rays, we use creams with SPF 15 or higher. The SPF factor rates how effective the sunscreen is in protecting our skin from sunburns caused by the UVB rays.
SPF 15 is fine for most people, but people who have very fair skin, conditions like lupus that increase their sensitivity to the sun, or if they have a family history of skin cancer, have to consider using SPF 30 or higher.
But, you have to keep in mind that higher the SPF goes, smaller the changes are in how much your sunscreen really protects you (for example, SPF 30 doesn’t filter out twice as much UVB rays as the SPF 15 sunscreen, the SPF 15 filters out about 93% of UVB, and the SPF 30 one 97%).
The SPF doesn’t tell you how good does the sunscreen protect you from the UVA rays, for that you have to take a look at the back of the bottle, where there should be a UVA star system (from 0-5) which tell you the percentage of UVA rays that are being absorbed by your sunscreen.
Also, products that contain at least one of this ingredients: ecamsule, avobenzone, oxybenzone, titanium dioxide, sulisobenzone, or zinc oxide are great for UVA protection. Although they don’t sound like that.
WHAT ABOUT SELF – TANNING PRODUCTS?
Dihydroxyacetone (DHA) is an ingredient used in every self-tanning product, and it works by creating a reaction on your skin. It is very strong and attacks other chemicals.
If you put sunscreen and then a self-tanning product on it (or buy a sunscreen with DHA in it) it won’t protect you from the UVA. If there is a DHA in the sunscreen, for just a few weeks, it will interact and destroy the UVA protection.
It is beautiful to be tanned but it’s more beautiful to be healthy.
PHOTOSTABILITY: WHAT DOES IT MEAN
Photostability is product ability to not break down in the sun, which means that something with lower photostability will break down easily. But that doesn’t mean that if you have a more stable sunscreen, you should apply it only once.
There are other factors that impact how well is your sunscreen holding on. Swimming, drying yourself with a towel,…all of this will remove your sunscreen.
Sunscreen needs to be reapplied every two hours, or every 30 minutes if you’re in very hot conditions (tropical vacations…). Although your sunscreen is „Water Resistant,“ it will protect you only 40 minutes before it breaks down after you’ve become wet. Also, your sweat breaks down the product, too.
WHICH IS BETTER: SPRAY SUNSCREENS OR REGULAR SUNSCREEN
Spray sunscreens contain a lot of alcohol in it, which breaks down photostability and dries the skin out, which leaves it dehydrated.
Stay away from sunscreens that contain a lot of alcohol, aerosols, gels and anything that claims to have a cooling effect.
HOW TO CHOOSE A SUNSCREEN FOR KIDS
Our children are the world to us. We always worry how to keep them safe. Choosing the right sunscreen is very important.
Skin of children and babies can be easily irritated, so keep in mind to avoid sunscreens with para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA) and benzophenones (oxybenzone, dioxybenzone, sulisobenzone…).
WHAT IF I HAVE SENSITIVE SKIN?
People with skin problems like rosacea can also benefit from using sunscreens made for children. If you have irritations or allergies, avoid sunscreens with preservatives, alcohol, and fragrances.
WHAT IF I HAVE ACNE PRONE SKIN?
If you have oily or acne-prone skin, use a water-based sunscreen rather than an oil based sunscreen which can make you break out.
HOW TO WEAR SUNSCREEN
You have to apply the sunscreen about 30 minutes before you go in the sun. If you’re a woman, it’s important to apply sunscreen on your face too (there are a lot of serum, lotions with SPF in it), even if you wear makeup you can put it beneath it. You can also apply a foundation or tinted moisturizer with SPF.
If you like to have a more natural look, mix a bit of sunscreen (for the face of course) with your foundation to get a tinted moisturizer that will also protect you from the sun!
Put cream on those spots you always miss, feet, back of your legs, bald spots (if you have them).
Your lips can get sunburned too, don’t forget to apply a UV-protective lip balm on your lips!
And most importantly, sunscreen isn’t enough. It doesn’t entirely protect you from the sun. Stay inside when the UV radiation is highest, when possible stay in the shade, wear sunglasses and hats. And don’t forget to apply sunscreen only in the summer, you should do it regularly (at least on your face) because even in the winter, the sun is damaging your skin.