You hear skin experts all over the globe repeating the importance of wearing sunscreen everyday and maybe you already do, but would still like to understand the reason why? Perhaps you fall into the second category and don’t wear sunscreen everyday, so keep reading for me to convince you!
I will break this into two areas, why you need to wear for skin health aka skin cancer and why you should wear it for skin appearance aka sunspots, wrinkles etc.
Skin Health
Wearing sunscreen lowers your chance of having skin cancer, which is the most common cancer in the United States. I say lower because wearing it daily does not cut the risk to zero, you still need to be sun-safe, and minimise time in the sun especially in the middle hours of the day.
Skin cancer (melanoma) is a sneaky and fast-moving cancer, and is dangerous because of its capacity to spread fast to other organs in the body.
Up to 80% of the sun’s rays can still pass through the clouds. Wind, clouds and cooler weather has nothing to do with how damaging the sun can be. The only way to be sure is to check the current UV rating in your area and with anything above a 3 you need to protect yourself.
Differences in skin tone or melanin levels in your skin do have a role in how your skin burns. Those with more melanin (darker skin tone) have less chance of getting burnt from sun exposure. But it does not mean that they are defended against skin cancer by the melanin in the skin alone. Bob Marley died at only 36 from melanoma that started under his toenail and eventually spread to his lungs and brain. Melanoma is prevalent in people with darker skin as some are not aware of getting skin cancer checks as often and the melanoma is caught later, so please be careful and protect yourself.
Skin Appearance
Sunscreen helps slow photoaging that comes from the UVA rays. Photoaging is a leathery look, skin discolouration, a decline of skin collagen which contributes to lines, wrinkles and sagging.
You may have sunspots and pigmentation already and are using all types of serums and treatments to hopefully remove them. I can tell you there is absolutely NO point to buying these and wasting your hard-earned cash if you are not wearing sunscreen daily. You will stay idle in your quest of even skin tone if you’re not doing your best to prevent further or worsen the current pigmentation daily with proper sun protection.
The solution to wearing face sunscreen year-round is finding one you love, that’s the key thing I tell people, experiment in finding one that works for your skin type and routine and you’re more likely to use it. The sunscreen needs to be broad spectrum meaning both UVA and UVB ray protection. UVB is the burning type rays that you can feel but UVA are the deeper less noticed rays that do the long term damage to your skin.
Buy a sunscreen that is 30 SPF or higher and apply liberally to your face, neck, chest and backs of your hands. When you think about it, our hands are always on display for the sun, especially when driving, they reveal one’s age so do your best to protect them.
Sunscreen is always applied last in your skincare routine and first before makeup application. But it’s not the only way to protect yourself against the sun. In Australia where I grew up, we were always taught sun protection and this is a common ‘moto’ we have.
There’s more to sun protection than sunscreen.
Protect yourself in five ways:
Slip on sun protective clothing
Slop on SPF 30 (or higher) sunscreen
Slap on a broad-brimmed hat
Seek shade
Slide on wrap-around sunglasses
So will you wear your sunscreen daily now? Just make it a habit like brushing your teeth!
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