Protect Your Skin

Now that we seem to be having some pretty good weather in the UK, I don’t want to jinx it but I’m quite impressed, I thought I should talk about the rather relevant subject of protecting our skin.  I know it’s a bit of a boring post but it’s something that’s really important especially this time of the year whether we have a hot summer or you are away on holiday somewhere hot.  You need to protect your skin.

You should wear at least SPF 15 on your face all year round anyway.  This is to prevent premature ageing and wrinkles.  I know it seems like a chore but at lot of foundations and BB creams come with an SPF already built in so look out for those when choosing one.

I know a lot of people like to wear lower factor sun creams because they want to get the best tan they can but you can still get a tan from wearing higher factors.  It just means it might take a little longer to reach that optimum tan but that you won’t burn and this is what we want to prevent.  Burning means you have damaged your skin and this is what could potentially cause skin cancer.  I’m by no means saying just because you’ve burnt you’re going to get skin cancer but every time you burn you are increasing your chances.

I never wear less than SPF 20 on my body and 30 on my face.  I always get a nice tan with this and never burn.  If you are someone that burns easily or have naturally pale skin then wear a higher factor.  Another thing to consider is your moles.  If you have moles then put a higher factor on them.  I have a few on my back, one on my leg and one on my arm and I always put the 30 on them.  You can get the sun screen sticks or the lip ones which are good for applying to moles without it getting messing.  If you have a lot of moles then it’s probably best to cover yourself in 30 or higher.

Another issue I want to address is sunbeds.  I’m not going to lie, I’ve been a fan of them in the past.  It’s so much easier to jump on them rather than applying fake tan, scrubbing it off when it goes patching and starting again.  BUT, they are so bad for you.  They increase your chances of getting skin cancer by 400%.  That’s huge!  Nowadays I’d much rather get my tan from a can and spend the extra time doing it than risking cancer.

To end, I wanted to give a benefit of the sun and that is the benefit of vitamin D.  Vitamin D comes from the sun and is good for our bones.  Getting out in the sun for an hour a day will do us the world of good and prevent diseases such as osteoporosis.  If you work indoors try to get outside on your lunch break or walk to/from work/the station.  This will also put you in a better mood!

So without sounding like a moaning parent, all I’m trying to say is; enjoy the sun but BE SAFE.

I hope this post was useful and let me know if you have any other sun facts.

Lauren xx

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