Sunscreen is one of THE simplest, cheapest and easiest ways to protect your skin and is important not only for your overall health, but also for beautiful skin!
Read on to find my top 4 benefits of wearing an SPF and tips on chosing one you love!
1. First up, the health benefits…
A tan results from injury to the skin’s DNA, plain and simple. The skin darkens into a tan as a flawed attempt to protect itself and prevent further DNA damage. However, these flaws or mutations can lead to skin cancer over time.
Remember: There is no such thing as a safe tan because a tan equals sun damage.
One of the biggest benefits of SPF is that it protects you from the harmful UV rays of the sun. According to skincancer.org daily use of this wonderful stuff can reduce our risk of developing skin cancer by 40-50% and Cancer Research UK says that 86% of melanomas are preventable.
If these reasons aren’t enough on their own, let me tell you a bit more.
2. Sunscreen helps protect against visible and premature ageing
Yes, our friend (not), UV actually is the single biggest cause of premature and preventable ageing. Yep, you read that right-take another look and let that one sink in.
I hear such a lot that people think they look healthier with a tan, but heck, it’s actually ageing you. One of the biggest reasons people come to see me is to get healthier, more radiant and youthful looking skin and UV exposure is literally the biggest threat to this.
So, if I were to tell you that around 80% of visible signs of ageing were related to UV exposure, would you believe it? It is a real thing and even has it’s own fancy name, photoageing.
How does it do this? Well, UV light breaks breaks down collagen and elastin in the skin, so the result is that the skin gets more wrinkles, loses it’s elasticity and becomes thinner and marks and blood vessels become more visible.
3. Sunscreen helps to keep your skin free of dark marks and keeps the complexion even
Yes, sun damage causes and worsens dark marks, or hyperpigmentation (melasma, post inflammatory pigmentation and sun damage) and can also worsen acne scarring. It can also make skin conditions like rosacea and redness prone skins worse and as it thins the skin, blood vessels become more visible.
4. It breaks down natural hyaluronic acid and increases skin dryness
This means the skin is less plump and firm, and those lines and wrinkles just seem deeper and more ingrained and no amount of moisturiser ever quite seems enough.
If this doesn’t get you reaching for your bottle of SPF, then I don’t know what will. It literally is THE simplest and cheapest pro-ageing tip I’ve got!!
I often get asked if people need to wear SPF all year round and my reply is always: Absolutely. Yes. 100%!
While UVB rays may decrease during the winter, but UVA rays are still ever-present and dangerous, so go on, slap it on! Do also remember that cloudy weather does not offer much protection. Up to 80% of UV radiation can penetrate this deceptive cover and cause harm to your skin.
This is all well and good, Kat but how do I choose a sunscreen, I hear you ask?
The most important item to look for on a sunscreen label is the term “broad spectrum”, signifying coverage against both UVA and UVB rays. The SPF should be 30 or higher. An SPF of 30 blocks 96.7% of UV rays so that only 3.3% will get through, compared with an SPF of 15 which blocks 93.3% of UV rays and lets through 6.7% – twice as much.
I know lots of you who don’t like wearing sunscreens because you worry they will feel thick, heavy or make the skin oily or even worse, cause a breakout. I’m here to tell you it doesn’t have to be this way!
There are plenty sunscreens out there, with my faves being Alumier MD (there are 6 in the range!), or Heliocare. I also love Skinbetter Science and for the kids, Heliocare have a great pediatrics one.
If you’d like help choosing one for yourself, why not come and have a chat and try some during a skin consultation. Simply click on the link below to book in!
Hope you found this interesting and if you do have any questions, let me know in the comments bel