Every summer, we are bombarded with innumerable advices on skincare. We know the damage sun can cause our skin, yet we take it too lightly and wait till the nth hour to do damage control. Here are some precautionary actions to take to guard our skin from that relentless heat. Starting from now, let’s pledge an oath to wear the bare essential – Sun Screen Lotions. By Varsha Abhay

PICKING THE RIGHT SUNSCREEN

Using the right sunscreen depends on factors like skin type- oily or dry, requirement- to the beach or to work and the climate- humid or arid. Depending on these, you select the one you are most comfortable with and that gives you noticeable results. If your skin gets affected even after using a sun block, you need to analyze what’s wrong with it. For instance, using a lesser SPF might not be of any help if you’re under the blazing sun in an afternoon.

NOT APPLYING ENOUGH

Squeeze out a generous amount of sunscreen and apply all over your entire body, definitely not forgetting the face. Not applying enough may not necessarily mean your skin would burn, but the said benefits of the sun block won’t reach your skin. And hence you wonder why the expensive sun block doesn’t do much for you.

APPLY, APPLY AND APPLY

Clearly, applying sunscreen in the morning won’t last you the entire day. Always have your sunscreen in your handbag to reapply it after every 2 hours. Also, if you sweat, or swim, the sunscreen wears off and doesn’t shield you from the harmful rays. So reapplication after each of these is extremely paramount.

SUNSCREEN UNDER YOUR CLOTHES

We all believe that if we’re covered, the sun cannot cause any damage to skin, but that’s a myth. Especially if you’re in the sun for long, wearing white for instance, the sun still gets to your skin, leading to a tan or a sun burn. Making sure you unfailingly practice the act of applying sun block everyday everywhere is very crucial.

DECODING SPF

The Sun Protection Factor is the defense that the product provides you against the Ultra violet rays of the sun. These harmful radiations could cause a blow to your skin and also eventually cancer. Hence, being cautious is the right way to go. Your skin tends to start burning after 10-15 minutes of exposure to the sun.

1. SPF 15: Provides you with 93% shielding from the sun. In simple words, it gives you 15 times more defense than no sunscreen.
2. SPF 30: 97% protection from the sunny rays. Double the SPF 15 in terms of time.
3. SPF 50: This factor is too high for the Indian climate, hence to be avoided at all costs. Even though it gives you about 98% shade from the sun.

SUN BLOCK FOR YOU

Normal skin: Go for one that is cream based. Try not opting for any that is specific to a skin type, oily or dry cause that is not advisable for normal skin.

Dry Skin: For the dry skin types, you need to pick a sun block that is cream/lotion based since it needs to address your problem of dry skin. A strong moisturizing solution is what you should be looking at.

Oily Skin: Nowadays, sunscreens are available that are water or gel based that would be perfect for your skin type. It will do wonders for the oiliness and also shelter your skin from the damages of the sun.