Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Not convinced about sun protection? Hear my story





For those of us who lives in the tropical climate, the amount of damaging UV rays that our skin is exposed to is enormous. Even if you’re not an outdoor person, UV ray gets reflected from buildings, vehicles, etc, onto our skin while we are indoors or under the umbrella/cap, not to mention, when we go out even for brief moments like hanging our clothes out to dry, walking from car to venue to venue for grocery shopping, walking in the park, etc, because the sun are strongest near the equator. You can't be carrying an umbrella all the time, can you?

In my younger days, I have never believed what people told me about the above, until I experienced massive sun burn myself.


                                  Feel free to click on picture for clearer view

See the 2 different tones on my neck? Notice the colour of my arms versus the original shades  on my neck? I was at the beach in Cherating, under a large umbrella and also surrounded by loads of shady trees. Thinking that I was under sufficient protection, I lazed on the beach for half an afternoon without any sun screen, coz I hate the feel of cream on my skin, especially when it’s hot and you start to sweat. Imagine the amount of UV rays reflected onto my skin from the sea and the sand.

This picture was taken on that very same evening.  ST was beyond words with my tomato face. Perhaps, having sensitive skin made me burn more easily. Whatever it is, that night, I wasn’t able to sleep at all coz my whole body was burning hot and it was painful like hell. 


The same thing happened when I went to Sepang to watch the F1. We were seated under the covered stand, but was there from morning till evening. I came back looking like a lobster. So did ST. So that was the point, I started to take note.

Hence it’s always good practice to use sun protection cream, especially if you know that you’re going to be out for half a day or more in the sun. Can you imagine the amount of sun exposure for that half a day, times all those days for the rest of your life? 

Some tips on sun protection
1) Using an SPF 15 sunscreen already filters out 93 percent of the sun’s rays. Above that, the difference is small. For very fair or sensitive skin people, it’s most advisable to use higher SPF coz their skin burns more easily.

2) There are 2 types of UV light. Over exposure to UVB rays cause burning and skin cancer, UVA rays cause wrinkles. UVA rays are still present on dull and cloudy days as it actually penetrates cloud and glass. Ensure your sun screen states that it provides protection for BOTH UVA & UVB.

3) Over exposure to the sun causes brown spots on the cheeks and body too, as we grow older.

4) Remember, do not overdo things. Sun is important for producing super-nutrient vitamin D, which aids in calcium absorption. 


I have extremely sensitive and dry skin. And there are not many sunscreen lotion that I can use on my face. Currently I am using one, which I find, is most suitable for my skin. It uses more natural ingredients which does not cause irritation and redness to my skin. It's extremely gentle and is soothing to use too. This product has been verified and highly recommended in quite a number of websites for it's natural and non harmful ingredients. Dermalogica Super Sensitive Faceblock with SPF 30.

                                     

                                                For more info, click here

If you are starting out for the first time, these are some of the "2 in 1" moisturizer with sunscreen which I find good to use. They're from Body Shop. 


                                                For more info, click here


The aloe vera range is my favorite, but I was using Vitamin E range when I first started, coz aloe vera range was not out yet at that time. However, please bear in mind that both range (the aloe and the Vitamin E) ONLY offers sun protection for UVA ray, not UVB. I JUST FOUND OUT!


                                               For more info, click here




This is the one that offers protection for both UVA and UVB rays.


                                              Please click here for more info


If you are interested in more information on sun protection and safety, click here.

Some of the above tips were taken from here.


--moon


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