Choosing the best suncare for you
Choosing the best sun screen
Choosing the sun screen is very important for all times of the year, and for all ages. Sunscreen will stop the skin from being damaged by the sun as well as keeping the skin soft and supple all day long. It is especially important for young skin as it is never too early to prevent damage to the skin from UVA and UVB radiation.
When choosing a sunblock check the label, it must protect both UVA and UVB, and so sometimes the label may say broad spectrum, it may not be broad enough. You must also check the sun protection factor, or SPF for short, as some are very low, 5 to 10, and these are only used in the winter time. The minimum protection you would require for normal days is a minimum of 15, and for normal sunshine is 30 to 50.
Sun creams normally have a shelf life of up to three years, but they must be stored in a cool dark place, and this is normally the case when stored in a bag with the rest of the summer equipment. Any SPF screens that have been kept for over three years should be discarded, as the SPF cannot the guaranteed consistent or even as high as when new. This is especially so for SPF 15, as it sunblock properties may be very low after some years. Sunblocks that are 30 to 50 can still be used for mild days.
The SPF factor of a sun screen is the amount of time the you can stay in the sun compared to not having any sunblock applied. An SPF 10 allows you to stay 10 times as long in the sun as compared to the unprotected skin. An SPF of 15 allows you to stay 15 times as long. You must be aware that sunblock is seldom applied to every place of the body, and that reflective surfaces can expose your body to UVA and UVB radiation without you being aware, and even in places that it would not normally get any sun. This can be in the ears, under the chin, the inside of the nostril, under the arms, around the bikini line, and any other sensitive areas. With reflective surfaces you must also be aware that the sunlight is a magnified by the surfaces and that an SPF 15 will only allow you a lot less protection in time from this amount of light. Water also magnifies the sun and light as well as reflection from its surface. This means that part of the body that are under water can receive significant amounts of UV light, and a waterproof sunblock should also be used. By reflection and absorption, water does cut down a lot of UV light, but also waves and splashes can magnify rays like a magnifying glass focusing rays on particular areas for short amounts of time and this can be very harmful.
Water droplets on the skin also have the same effect, focusing the sun’s rays into single points, giving very small barely visible focused burns, this can lead to unsightly spots, that may last for years or even for ever.
The best way to avoid premature skin aging and sun damage is to avoid strong sunlight at certain times of the day. As sunlight intensity can vary from day today it is much better not to take a chance and keep away from strong sunlight between 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., and this way you will not have to complain that today you burnt but yesterday you did not, because sun light may appear to be the same day after day but is never quite the same every day in UVB intensity even though in brilliance it may appear the same.
