Your Guide to the Best Sunscreen for your Skin

It is summer time !

At least in the northern half of the earth 🙂

And summer means beach, picnics, spending more time outside the home and maybe a trip to a sunny land!

My husband and I are planning to visit Petra ” The Rose City” in southern Jordan this week. This means staying out for nearly all day long. So, I have to pick a good sunscreen for the family. I have spent few days surfing the Internet, learning new things about sunscreen, and I am so excited to share what I have learned with you!

 

So let us start with the traditional question:

So should you use a sunscreen?

Absolutely YES!

But WHY?!

A new study published in The Annals of Internal Medicine found that

“Daily use of sunscreen seems to protect against skin aging.”

This is the result of  4.5 years study that wanted to find out the results of using a sunscreen on a daily basis on the skin. I would take this study seriously since according to The New York Times

“The sunscreen study was paid for by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia. No sunscreen makers contributed.”

It is good to know that real scientists were behind this research, and only for the good of our health.

Those who used the sunscreen on a daily basis experienced 24 percent less skin ageing over the entire study period than those who did not use it regularly.

Sometimes, an image worth 1000 words, have you seen this photo of a truck driver who spent 28 years driving his truck on the roads, the left half of his face which was exposed continuously to sun rays suffers from wrinkles more than the right half of his face!

I guess now you agree with me that you should put on your sunscreen and add it to your daily skin routine, don’t you ?

When you pick your sunscreen, there are many brands in the market, and that makes your effort to choose one a BIG challenge!

But wait! I can help you!

There are few major things that you should look for when you pick your sunscreen that works for you.

Things you should know when you choose your sunscreen :

1) Ingredients you should look for :

• Titanium and Zinc Oxide: both work as mirrors that reflects sun rays before it touches your skin. Being commonly used in baby powders, Zinc Oxide, is considered a safe ingredient for your skin.
• Aloe Vera which smoothes the skin.
• Vitamin C and E, for being perfect anti-oxidants.

2) The skin types that sunscreen can be used for: there are many kinds available in the market, and you need to know what skin type is that product used for, you don’t want to end up using a greasy product on your oily skin!

3) Your foundation that has an SPF label on it is not enough for protecting your skin. Therefore, you should apply a sunscreen before you put on your makeup, and never rely on the label on makeup bottles.

4)The FDA has put new rules for the sunscreens companies to follow:

• The term “sunblock” is no longer in use because there is no such a perfect sunblock product.
• Sunscreen that claim to give a sun protection must offer broad spectrum coverage of both UVA and UVB rays that complies with F.D.A. testing standards.
  Read more:  New Rules For Sunscreens
• Use a product of SPF 15+

How to apply sunscreens to skin?

This depends on the kind of sunscreen you are using :

1) Physical sunscreens are sunscreens that sit on the surface of the skin and works as a shield that protects from the sun rays immediately. One of the main ingredients that you should have in your sunscreen (according to Dr Oz) is zinc oxide. This physical sun block can block the entire UV spectrum on its own immediately.

2) Chemical sunscreens are absorbed by the skin and it takes around 15-30 minutes to start working, in this case, it is recommended that you apply this kind of sunscreens before exposing to the sun.

How often to reapply a sunscreen?

The bad UVA and UVB spectrums in the sun rays break down chemical sunscreen that you applied on your skin. That is why you are supposed to reapply sunscreen every two hours.

So always, keep in mind that your sunscreen is essential for protecting your skin from ageing fast. Apply before you put on your makeup, and reapply every 2 hours if you are exposing to the sun for a long time.