Shorter waves
Helps Prevent Sun Cancers
Most sun cancers are caused by too much time in the sun (hands up if you have fallen asleep on the beach and woken up burnt) Wearing sunscreen helps protect your skin against the harmful UV rays that cause these sun cancers, allowing you to spend more time in the sun with a reduced risk of sun cancer.
Prevents Premature Aging
Did you know that 90% of visible aging is due to the sun? There are two big culprits of aging: natural aging (yes sadly we do get older each year) and environmental aging (caused by exposure to the sun, pollution, chemicals and other external factors). Although we can’t control the natural aging process we can protect our skin from external factors. When our skin is exposed to the sun, collagen within the skin starts to break down leaving fine lines and wrinkles. It also increases the production of melatonin leaving hyperpigmentation (such as freckles). Luckily we have sunscreen which protects our skin from the sun.
Sunscreen also:
- reduces inflammation
- prevents sun sensitivity
What is SPF?
SPF stands for Sun Protection Factor. SPF is the measure of the sunscreens ability to protect your skin against UVB rays. The SPF number tells you how long it should take for the UVB rays to affect your skin when the sunscreen is applied compared to wearing no sunscreen. For example, SPF30 means it will take 30 x longer for your skin to be damaged by UVB rays than if you were not wearing sunscreen.
However, although UVB rays damage your skin. UVA rays also ways damages. Unfortunately, not all sunscreens protect against both UVA and UVB rays. Ensure your sunscreen states ‘broad-spectrum label. This means it protects against both UVA and UVB rays.
UVB
UVA
What is the best type of sunscreen for you?
Mineral sunscreen
Sits on top of the skin, acting as a physical barrier against UV rays. It works to reflect UV rays away from the skin
Chemical sunscreen
Absorbs into your skin. The UV rays and turns into heat which is released by the body.
When should you wear sunscreen?
