I am all for sun protection, and I honestly don't understand why more people aren't. Well, I have an idea: laziness. So you have enough time to make a cup of coffee in the morning and put on your makeup, maybe do your hair, but you can't spare 5 minutes (even less) to add sunscreen into your daily routine? I mean DAILY, not just Monday to Friday. I've made a few last minute decisions to leave the house and even then, I'd rather protect myself from harmful UV radiation than apply makeup. And no, makeup with SPF is not enough. I apply sunscreen every day, at least to exposed skin, but mostly I apply it to my entire body. Including hands and feet. And ears. And many of my hair products have UV filters in them, too.
A few clients have "confessed" that they go to the store with the intention to buy sunscreen, but once they arrive, they get overwhelmed with all the options, promises, SPF numbers and price options. It is totally understandable, the same thing happened to me the other day. My sunscreen is currently less than half (freak out sesh. Kidding.) and I went in with a list of sunscreen ingredients to look for, and then realized that every single sunscreen available at the Clicks closest to where I stay either had alcohol and/or fragrance in it. Some of which had it in the top 5 ingredients. No, thanks. Pass. It's frustrating, as alcohol and fragrance (even "natural" fragrance) are known to be irritating to the skin. And there's no way your skin can function at it's best when it's irritated. I'm still searching, though, and I'll be happy to share if I find one that's got all the good stuff with none, or much less, of the bad stuff. :-)
In the meantime, here's a list of sunscreen ingredients to take note of, and refer to, when next you go shopping:
- titanium dioxide
- zinc oxide
- butyl methoxydibenzoylmethane a.k.a avobenzone and Parsol 1789
- Mexoryl SX a.k.a ecamsule. Technical name: terephthalylidine dicamphor sulfonic acid. Great facial nerve exercise.
- Tinosorb
These ingredients should be listed as "active ingredients". Not many products in SA list the active ingredients separately from the rest, so it would be good if one of the above is listed in the first few ingredients. It would also be SUPER if you could find a formulation that is alcohol- and fragrance-free (and if you do, please share in the comments below). Cetyl alcohol, stearyl alcohol and other fatty alcohols are not bad for your skin: they are emollient and can benefit dry skin. If fragrance (may also be listed as "parfum" or "pthalates") is listed in the last three ingredients, I wouldn't worry too much, if the rest of the formulation is great and the active sunscreen ingredients are present.
Waste no more time procrastinating this protective measure, y'all. It's one of the simplest things you can do to protect yourself from the sun's damaging UV rays.
And don't skimp on the sunscreen. Seriously. Pretend it's your favourite drink and you just want it all over you. Wow, that's not a great example. You get the picture.
Great post! I always look for Zinc Oxide and Titanium Dioxide as well as these are natural, safe ingredients. I feel like too many sunscreens use harmful chemicals these days which is why I always look for natural sunscreen for body that is free of chemicals. Many of these natural products can actually make your skin healthier. They're amazing!
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