Skincare Routines for Summer
To the young and uninitiated, a sun tan has great appeal, giving the skin a youthful shine and a healthy glow. However, most are not aware that even if the skin does not appear ‘burnt’, a tan is only a first degree burn and is even more damaging to those with fair skin. This is why a sun tan on older people is often unappealing, giving the person a weathered, unhealthy appearance; it ruins the skin and causes it to sag instead of maintaining its natural elastin.
You need sun protection. Lying out in the sun or in a tanning bed is, more or less, like cooking yourself on low heat. Approximately 75%-80% of the aging we experience throughout our lives is due to sun exposure. Let’s understand how to beat the heat using the proper precautions and skincare routines for summer.
Dangers of Exposure
For olive skin tones or darker, one or two sun tans or even very mild sun burns may not be detrimental. Fair skin tones, however, should not be tanned or burnt even once. This probably seems like an unreasonable suggestion. Most of us have had bad sun burns more than once as kids, right?
That “healthy glow” you get from a tan is actually not so healthy: Dermatologists say there is so such thing as a safe tan. Whether it comes from the sun or an indoor tanning booth, a tan is the body’s response to damage caused by the sun’s UV radiation.
Caroline Pradario, Business Insider
Sun Protection and Skincare Products
Don’t throw off your week. While wearing sunscreen is of utmost importance, the best idea is to stay out of the sun altogether. Big hats and big sunglasses are also wise choices. If you’d like to be completely safe, simultaneously wearing skincare products, covering your skin, and minimal time spent in direct sunlight is an even better idea.
Even if your skin does not become “tanned” or show any color from being exposed to the sun, the sun’s rays alone will age you. This is why, for fairer skin tones, a sunscreen with an SPF of at least 50 is strongly encouraged. For darker skin tones, it is still recommended to wear sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30.
Skincare Routine for Sun Damaged Skin
We’ve all heard that our skin needs 15 minutes of ‘direct’ sunlight every day, right? On the contrary. For fairer-skinned people, being outside while shading yourself is sufficient for giving the skin the amount of sunlight that it needs. This would be ‘indirect sunlight.’ If it’s too late and you’re already burnt, you can always do your best to mitigate the damage with aloe vera gel and other skincare products.
Skincare can be difficult, more difficult when you take into account environmental factors like the sun. But with the proper precautions and skincare routines, your skin will look great and continue to look great in and out of season.