Are YOU protecting your skin?

We may live in Ireland but sun protection is still important especially with the luck we’ve had so far this summer! We’ve had SOME ABSOLUTE CORKERS and trust us, we are not complaining, however this change in weather does cause concern in the area of sun protection.

We managed to grab Caroline for a quick chat on what exactly sun protection is and how do we know that we’re purchasing the best products??? 

Luck for us, she had ALL the answers as we knew she would. 😉

Before purchasing sun screen, there are 2 things you need to understand, there are 2 types of UV rays, one being UVA and UVB that you need protection from.

UVA is actually present everyday no matter what the weather is. UVB is present when the sun is out and of course we also need to protect our skin against it.

The eastern coast of Northern Ireland and Antrim Coastal road

A good way to remember how they damage your skin is by thinking of the A at the end of UVA as ageing and the B at the end of UVB for burning, which is why it is important that we always have both protections. Even on cloudy days, we’re exposed to UVA and NEED to be protected.

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The only metric that you need to look for on an SPF label is the words, “broad spectrum.” You also need to look out for zinc oxide, which covers you from both UVA and UVB. UVA is not filtered by the ozone layer and is around every day and can penetrate through glass.

The common mistake among consumers is mistaking a higher number SPF for being a stronger, better one. This is not the case, the higher the number generally means a heavier texture. The difference between a 30 SPF and a 50 SPF is only 1% filter. The number just represents how long you can stay in the sun for so a 30 SPF means you can stay in the sun 30 times longer than if you weren’t wearing one at all and a 50 SPF is 50 times longer so the lower the SPF, the more you have to apply it.

Here’s the full video: