A Focus on Sun Damage and Tips to Avoid it!

Touch provider and patient examining VISIA skin analysis results

If y’all are anything like me, I look forward to my days in the sun. It’s summertime in the south! Who doesn’t love the warm sunshine on their skin and fresh air in their lungs?!  But, just like anything else in life, too much of a good thing can be a bad thing.  Let me tell you a quick story about what happened to my skin recently.

I was invited to go deep sea fishing one Sunday morning and I was so excited to go! Being with friends on a boat, miles into the ocean sounded amazing!  To my dismay, I quickly realized there was no sunscreen anywhere to be found as we departed. Picture this: hours on a boat with no shade or sunscreen. IT WAS BRUTAL.  I was fried by the end of the day. Sun damage is real and happens way more than people think.  A few days after my embarrassment of being sunburnt had set in, my face peeled terribly. I swear I looked like a zombie from the walking dead! All of this could have been avoided had I made sure I had access to the right sunscreen. The most important thing you can do for your skin is to protect it every single day! There’s no point in using any other skincare treatments without it. Protecting your skin from sun damage is the first step in preventing further damage!

The immediate danger of sun exposure is sunburn, and long-term exposure increases the risk of wrinkles, sunspots, dry and leathery looking skin, and skin cancer. The number of people that let me know they wish they would’ve taken better care of their skin in their 20s is astonishing. I’d rather start taking their advice now so that when I’m older I’ll thank myself for it. We all want beautiful and healthy skin, because honestly, who has time for sun damaged skin?!

So, how do you avoid sun damage? Below are some tips to protect skin from sun damage and wrinkles:

-Choose sunscreen that blocks UVA and UVB radiation. This is broad band spectrum and is crucial! It should be water resistant and contain a SPF of 30 or higher. Reapply every 1-2 hours. Do not use expired sunscreen. Lucky for you all, we have the best quality sunscreen in SkinCeuticals with a SPF of 50. Come stop in and grab yourself a bottle…. or two 🙂

Wear sunscreen daily. Period. No seriously, like every day. Water, sand, even snow have reflective properties that can increase the risk of sunburn!

-Limit sun exposure between 10 am and 4 pm when the radiation is at its peak.

-Wear protective clothing such as a sun shirt or wide brimmed hat.

-Wear sunglasses that have 100% UV absorption.

-Finally, if I haven’t focused on this enough, don’t forget your sunscreen!! 🙂

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