Sunscreens protect us from the suns UVA (ageing) and UVB (burning rays) but there are two different types which really do offer different levels and types of protection.
Chemical Sun creams penetrate our skin and chemically alter our receptors which allow the absorption of sun rays. A physical broad spectrum sits on the top of the skin like a blanket and reflects the beams back off us like a mirror. No product is absorbed.
Sun creams generally offer a much more cost effective solution especially when protecting the whole of your families body on a two week holiday and this is the type you’ll find most often in your added spf facial creams and foundations. Many of us do not realise however that we should be reapplying it every two hours, every day (and even more often if we have been in water or it is particularly sunny).
Also Oxybenzone (in some chemical sunscreens but never physical ones) is an ingredient we should all be looking out for. It has been banned in many countries due to its devastating affects on the seas coral reefs where the smallest drop can be of real detriment to a large area.
We are all lucky to live in an age where we can research educate ourselves through scientific evidence on the internet. My dad spent many years in the merchant navy out on the blistering ocean, and my mum lived in beautiful countries like Cyprus and Malta as a child with her father in the RAF. Neither of them had a care or knowledge for sun protection- it wasn’t that time. Luckily neither of them have been affected by skin aging negatively although my mum has a sun spot she detests and my dad has sadly had a few cancerous moles on his head removed.
A physical broad spectrum will always be a much safer and also a better choice environmentally but physical sun creams do have a place too.. Just remember to apply that sunscreen every single day. Those vampire busting rays are around 365 days a year!
We can help at Beauty Oasis Day Spa & Clinic for all your skin care needs. Stockists of Clarins & AlumierMD suncare,
Contact us at 01495 762736 or enquiry@beautyoasis.co.uk
(Blog credits to Ceri Andrews)