Hello Gorgeous!
I know I’ve said this over and over again but now that summer is in full swing it bears repeating: Wear sunscreen every single day! And that goes for every skin type/color. Yes, even if you are inside. UVA rays do pass through windows. Remember sun damage is cumulative. That means that when you venture out without sunscreen to grab the mail, drive to pick-up the kids, and take the trash cans to the curb, you’ve had 30-60 minutes of unprotected sun exposure in just one day. That little bit of time adds up over the years and it culminates into sun damaged skin that not only leads to wrinkles but potentially skin cancer.
Another thing to keep in mind is that sunscreen is separate from your make-up. It’s great to have SPF in your make-up but you have to use 8x the amount of make-up you would normally use to get the coverage listed on the tube/bottle. Trust me, you need more than you think and most people do not put on enough. You should be applying ½ tsp of sunscreen to the face and a full shot glass to the body. Consider make-up with SPF to be bonus coverage that is put on over top of your sunscreen. Make-up is make-up, sunscreen is sunscreen.
So should you be wearing sunscreen with the highest SPF (sun protection factor)? Actually, 30 SPF protects against 97% of UV rays. Anything higher will give you an additional 1-2% of protection. That’s why you can still get tan even while wearing sunscreen. So don’t be fooled by the higher price tag that usually applies to those sunscreens with 50-100 SPF. 30 is fine and as you re-apply every 90-120 minutes, you get closer to full coverage.
Sunscreen does expire. Sunscreen breaks down with time and when exposed to heat. So it’s not a good idea to keep it in your car. Can you continue to use it after it’s expired. Sure! There’s just no guarantee that it will protect your skin at the SPF listed on the bottle. We can’t see UV rays; but make no mistake, those rays are damaging our skin. So for me, that’s too risky. I just buy another bottle.
Sunscreen is also not “waterproof”. Some sunscreens are oil-based so that water does not rinse off the sunscreen as readily. And guess what, my gorgeous friends? “Water-resistant” sunscreens actually need to be re-applied more frequently because the water does wear it off faster. My rule of thumb is to re-apply every hour if I plan on being in the water. If you’re just laying by the pool or on the beach, 90-120 minutes is sufficient.
Next week. I’ll explain the differences between chemical and physical based sunscreens.
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