Anti aging skin care: Got SPF?

Each time summer rolls around, lots of advice surfaces everywhere reminding you to wear sunscreen while you’re sun worshipping. The timing of these articles e.t.c. can be a bit misleading in a way because it makes it seem as if you should only pay attention to sun protection in the summer. That is a big no-no! Here are a couple of “Did you knows” for you.
Did you know that:

• the sun causes major long-term damage to the skin that leads to all kinds of scary skin problems from wrinkles to cancer?
• 80% of the sun’s harmful rays still get through even on a cloudy day?
• water, sand and snow reflect the sun’s rays which increases your exposure/
• UVA sun rays (which are largely responsible for wrinkling, age spots and which have been implicated in causing skin cancer) can pass through glass?
• even if you have olive or dark skin you still need to use sunscreen?
• you need to use sunscreen on all exposed parts of your body every day even if you’re not going out in the sun?

These are just a few facts that even I was surprised to find out when I started taking sun protection seriously. I have an olive skin tone and I never really thought sunscreen was important for me. I thought it was mainly for my lighter skinned brothers and sisters. I was wrong. Since I started using a moisturiser with sunscreen my skin tone has evened out and the blemishes on my face are much lighter and less noticeable. I use much less make-up than I used to because I don’t need to. I use my moisturiser with SPF every single day! Now I’m trying to make sure I use sunscreen on the rest of me that is exposed.

It’s never too late to start protecting your skin from the damaging effects of sun exposure no matter how old you are. Every little helps.

For more information about sunscreen and sun protection, visit the American Academy of Dermatology website here and here.

For tips on choosing the right sunscreen, visit here.