30 Days of Beauty, Day Two: The Importance of Sun Protection
When we asked beauty bloggers for their top beauty tips the number one tip given was to wear sunscreen.
How important is it? Take a look at these quotes:
Heather Walczuk from Beauty Unbiased:
“Just go ahead and throw away all of that money you spent on your organic vegetables, expensive moisturizers and anti-aging
creams if you aren't going to be using the proper SPF on your face.
Make sure the sunscreen has UVA and UVB protection to protect from
both sunburn and cancer causing rays. It's much easier to fake a tan
than erase wrinkles and sunspots.”
Jenna Watson from Beauty, Fashion, Fabulous!
“The Sun is Not Your Friend - even in the winter! We all know that we need to wear sunscreen during the summer when we are at the beach or lounging poolside, but did you know that you should be wearing sunscreen all year round? Skin damaging UV rays can be just as strong in cloudy weather and can even penetrate through windows! You may not get a sunburn, but those rays are harming you. Protecting yourself is simple – Buy a moisturizer with a SPF 15 or higher and apply it under your make up every day (my product-pick is in tip #2). During summer months wear sunscreen with a SPF 30 or higher.
Moxie from Moxie Reviews:
“Apply sun protection, even when it’s a cloudy day. If you don't, in addition to the fact that you will end up with skin that looks like leather, and lots of wrinkles and sunspots, you run the risk of skin cancer!”
About Sunscreen
Sunscreen is essential for the health of your skin, especially if you are a person who spends a lot of time outdoors. Even people who are dark skinned should use sunscreen when out in the sun. Some sun exposure is also vital for good health, as it helps the body manufacture Vitamin D, but the sun also has ultraviolet rays that are very damaging to skin. These rays can disrupt the DNA in skin cells and cause the skin to prematurely age and lead precancerous conditions like actinic keratoses and skin cancers. Although artificial sunscreens also seem to block the creation of Vitamin D, you can get your daily dose with very little sun exposure or through drinking Milk or a daily multi-vitamin. Don’t go tanning just for the Vitamin D!
Sunscreen can be applied as a lotion, spray, or gel. It can be made of organic chemicals that can absorb the UV light, or organic particles that are made of chromophores so that they not only absorb the UV rays but can also reflect and scatter them. Inorganic particles like titanium dioxide can also absorb as well as scatter and reflect ultraviolet light. These physical blockers tend to last longer and block better than many of the chemicals.
Sunscreen is rated by SPF, or sun protection factor. The higher the SPF the better it protects against sun damage, although there is a certain amount of diminishing returns after SPF 30 or so. This is calibrated by the amount of ultraviolet light needed to cause sunburn, but the calibration can be somewhat complex, as ultraviolet light varies depending on the time of day and weather conditions. The effectiveness of sunscreen also depends on skin type, how often the sunscreen is put on, then reapplied, whether a person goes swimming or simply lies in the sun, and how much of the sunscreen the user’s skin absorbs.
How to Apply Sunscreen
An average adult should apply about an ounce of SPF 15 or higher sunscreen over exposed parts of their body when they go out into the sun. Apply the sunscreen about a half an hour before you go out into the sun, then reapply sunscreen no more than two hours after you have been in the sun, with reapplications every hour to two hours. Reapply after swimming or heavy perspiration.
What the Beauty Bloggers Use
Sunscreen comes in many forms. Cindy Bokma from Hello Dollface likes a primer with an SPF so she can keep her skin protected from the sun, and any extra product is applied to the hands and neck/chest.
Nicki Zevola, the blogger behind FutureDerm likes to combine treatment products with sunscreen, She notes:
“Studies show certain combinations of antioxidants in specific concentrations can boost UV protection. Given that 80-90% of the visible signs of aging are attributable to UV damage, I always apply a 15% vitamin C + 1% vitamin E serum, like Skinceuticals CE Ferulic, under a broad-spectrum UVA/UVB sunscreen. I'm also religious about sun avoidance and sun hats.”
At Beauty and Fashion Tech, we love Physician’s Formula Healthy Wear, because it it pairs a high SPF sunscreen with face powder or a decent coverage tinted moisturizer. Read our review here: Physician’s Formula Healthy Wear Review. We also love double duty products and use sunscreens that include skin brighteners such as DDF Protect and Correct. You can see that review here: DDF Protect and Correct Review.
Day Three Tomorrow: Keeping it Clean, All About Cleanser.
and 
, are the best I have found for nice coverage with high sun protection. The products go to SPF 50 .
