Everyone’s mood is perking up with the warmer weather and brighter sunshine, but it also means it’s time for us to consider how to take care of our skin and protect it from the sun’s harmful rays.
Protecting your skin is about much more than just slapping on a bit of sun cream, especially if you are prone to be in the sun for long periods of time.
One product worth checking out is a spritz, there are a range of good quality cooling sprays, spray after sun and calming lotions available on the market. Keep one in the fridge and use it to cool off after a long day in the garden, out in town, or even on holiday. This will help to keep you cool, as well as ensuring your skin stays moist and hydrated.
It seems like an obvious thing to say but wearing a hat can really help to protect your face, ears and neck from the sun. A wide brim sun hat can look fashionable and protect your precious and delicate skin from sun damage and side effects such as ageing. A baseball style hat is better than no hat at all, but a floppy sun hat does the trick.
It’s worth gently exfoliating every day if you can in the summer, especially if you have been out in the sun all day. The emphasis is on the word “gently” as it will help your skin to get rid of the old, dry, and dead skin cells.
Another tip is to ensure you wear a lip conditioner, or some form of lip balm that contains SPF, will help to prevent your lips from drying out, and eventually cracking.
It’s not all outside the body that you should be thinking of. Eating melon can do wonders for your skin too. Hydration is very important for your skin always, but especially during the warm summer months when you are likely to be dehydrated without even realising it. In addition to making sure you are drinking plenty of fluids, try adding foods such as cucumber, tomatoes, and cantaloupe melon to your diet.
When choosing your skincare items be wary of acids such as Glycolic acid, Glycolic in particular has become increasingly popular in consumer-focused skincare lines, rather than being available to beauty salons only. All products containing acids have a warning on the instructions that you should take extra care to avoid direct sunlight for a specified period of time after use, and that extra sun cream should be worn, as the skin is more likely to burn following an acid treatment or application.
Check your products to see what they contain and find out if you have been doing more harm than good, by using the products without reading the instructions and taking the necessary precautions.
Of course, wearing sun cream is absolutely vital if you want to protect your skin throughout the summer months. Ideally you should apply before you get dressed in the morning. Slather sunscreen on to your body at least 10 to 15 minutes before dressing. The SPF needs a good 20 minutes to sink in before your skin is protected anyway, and this way your skin will be well covered and protected.
This also means wearing suncream on your face. Many women do not wear sun cream on their face because their foundation, or other makeup products, contain SPF and they think this is enough to cover them. Do not make that mistake. You would need to apply 14x the amount of powder or foundation, for example, that people would normally use to benefit from its SPF qualities. You’re better applying sun cream suitable for use on your face first, allowing it to sink in, and then applying your makeup.
And whatever you do…check last year’s bottle of sun cream before you use it to make sure it’s still in date. All sun creams have best before and sometimes use by dates because the active ingredients in the creams do have a shelf life and will lose their potency after a period. If your sun cream is out of date, it’s best not to risk it, and buy new.