Why you should ALWAYS wear an SPF.
As a beauty therapist, this is the recommendation to all my clients with all skin types. Always wear an SPF, even in cloudy winter weather. Yes, you’ve read that right.
A few years back you might have found that SPF were usually very thick and even a giving you a ghost kind of look. It is not a problem nowadays with so many new options.
Why wear an SPF?
SPF stands for ‘Sun Protection Factor’, this one protects you from UVA and UVB, UVC is absorbed by the ozone before reaching your skin.
UVB has a middle wavelength and will penetrate your skin on the first layer of your skin, which can over time cause redness, burning and in more extreme cases, skin cancer. UVBs are not present at all times, it will depend on the season, the location and the time of the day. Generally, spring to fall from 10 am to 4 pm.
UVAs have the longest wavelength and go deep into your skin, causing ageing, wrinkling, loose skin and sun spots.
Now you might think, ‘Well then when there is no sun, I should be fine’. Yes and no, and here is why. In wintertime even if you don’t see the sun it is still here behind those clouds. Most UVBs will be stopped by those clouds but not the UVAs, and if you go back up you can see that the UVBs are the ones burning or, in other words, giving the information to your brain that you shouldn’t stay too long unprotected. That is why you should still use SPF even in winter time or cloudy days.
Twin sisters, number 1 has been protecting her skin, number 2 has not.
Which one to pick?
I’ll give you that it can be tricky to find the right SPF, some are too oily, too whitening, and too thick.
Here are two I like to use.
La Roche Posay - Invisible Fluid.
This one is more of a liquid than a cream and is very protective you can use it under your day cream.
Sun Bum - Sunscreen Face Lotion
This one is thicker, I would typically use it alone or mixed in my day cream.
Last but not least, always take a protection of a minimum of 30 SPF. A protection of 15 wouldn’t be enough to actually protect your skin.
Now, don’t be alarmed, you don’t have to run away from the sun, your body needs the vitamin D it gets from it. Just use the appropriate protection and get that sun kissed look.
