How to protect your skin from the sun

So I know it's the middle of summer, everyone wants to be outside enjoying the weather, and the majority of the younger crowd accomplish their goal of obtaining a beach babe tan.  While this may look good now, their skin is being irreversibly damaged.  Coming from a very fair skinned person, here are the top guidelines to being smart in the sun.

1.  Limit sun exposure between 10AM and 4PM:  this is when the sun is most intense and ultraviolet rays damage the skin, contributing to cancer, freckles, age spots, discolorations, and benign growths.  Even when it is cloudy, rainy, or snowy outside as much as 90% of harmful rays still reach your skin.  Sand and water also reflect the sun, contributing to a burn.  When in the sun make sure to generously apply both lip balm and sunscreen/sunblock and reapply every two hours, more if swimming or sweating.  If possible, wear long sleeved shirts, pants, hats, and sunglasses that provide broad spectrum protection, and understand that being directly exposed to sunlight is just as harmful as being in a tanning bed.

2.  Stay hydrated:  drinking lots of water helps prevent dried, chapped skin along with applying the correct moisturizing cream directly after drying off from bathing or showering.  Avoid taking scalding hot showers and aim more for warm water for a maximum of 10 minutes because exposure to water dries out skin.  Chlorine and sodium lauryl sulfate also remove natural oils needed by your skin.

3. Good skin care:  gently wash your face to remove dirt, oil, grime, and dead cells but DO NOT scrub.  This can cause irritation leaving skin chapped and vulnerable.  It is recommended to wash your face twice daily using warm water, a mild cleanser, and a washcloth in circular motions.  Pat skin dry, being careful not to pull, and apply moisturizer.

4.  Health care precautions:  Try not to share lip balms, toothbrushes, mascara or anything that touches your skin with others. Don't share drinks, avoid touching your face with your fingers and other products like cell phones that can carry bacteria.  Cold sores, a viral infection, involve the skin bordering the lips while mainly bacteria contributes to acne.

5.  Check out your skin:  Be aware of new changes in your skin's appearance including freckles, moles, and growths.  Get a skin check up once a year, every six months if you have a family history of skin cancer or disease.  Also check for and cuts or bruises and mend accordingly to prevent infection.

http://www.everydayhealth.com/skin-and-beauty/skin-care-101/protect-your-skin.aspx 

Remember to always choose a sunscreen and lip balm with at least SPF (sun protection factor) 15 that protects against both UVA and UVB rays, contributing to aging and burning respectively.  Sunscreen is a lotion made from chemicals that absorb ultraviolet light and provide a protective layer that prevents harmful rays from penetrating skin.  We see sunscreen and sunblock at the store, two very different products.  Sunscreen needs time to sink in before providing protection while sunblock is effective immediately.  In order to determine how long you can be in the sun before another application is required, here's a simple trick.  Multiply the SPF number by the time it would usually take your skin to burn without sun protection and you'll get a number which equals how long it will take to burn while wearing sunscreen.  


Ex:  25 SPF x 10 minutes in the sun to burn= 250 minutes in the sun before your skin would burn with sunscreen/block applied properly.

I   I also thought this was interesting from:  http://www.gosunsmart.org/yourskin/yourskin_protection.shtml

1.     Percentage of Protection from damaging UV rays:
SPF 15 = 92%
SPF 30 = 97%
SPF 40 = 97.5%

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