10 Tips to Stay Sun Safe
Summer has arrived and the sun is shining bright and outdoor activities are a top priority for most of us. This is an important time to highlight July as UV Safety Awareness Month! With the beach and barbecue weather comes higher exposure to harmful Ultraviolet (UV) rays, which are the main cause of skin cells turning into cancer.
Check out our top ten tips to stay sun safe, so you can enjoy the sun and outdoors safely!
1. THE SUN KNOWS NO SHADE. Despite common belief, ALL skin tones are susceptible to skin cancer. In fact, even the darkest Black skin provides only about an SPF 13. No matter what your ethnicity or skin tone, if you get enough sun exposure, you’re putting yourself at risk. Protect your melanin!
2. READ YOUR LABELS Did you know that Zinc Oxide and Titanium Dioxide are the ONLY two ingredients recognized as safe by the FDA? Protecting your skin shouldn’t mean having to settle for chemical sunscreen agents! The ingredients we put on our skin are just as important as protecting our skin.
3. WALK THIS WAY. Using mineral sunscreen means that you can go outside right away. Chemical sunscreen requires 20 minutes of waiting for the chemicals to be absorbed into your skin in order to work.
4. THE 411 ON UVA vs UVB. Both are harmful to our skin. UVB rays are responsible for sunburn damage while UVA rays penetrate deep into the skin and cause premature aging, wrinkles and other skin damage that can lead to skin cancer. It’s important to utilize broad spectrum sunscreen to ensure protection against both UVA and UVB.
5. THE TRUTH ABOUT SPF. Most think the higher the SPF the more protection, but that’s not necessarily true. SPF 30 will give you 97% protection against UV rays while SPF 50 will give you 98%. Don’t be fooled by high SPF labels, they don’t equate to higher levels of protection.
6. TIMING IS EVERYTHING. UV rays are most intense at noon, so the FDA (and your Unsun family) recommend to do your best to limit your sun exposure between the hours of 10AM – 4PM.
7. WHY YOUR MAKEUP WITH SPF DOESN’T CUT IT. Sunscreen in your makeup may not be enough. The minimum amount of sunscreen needed on the face is about dime size. If your foundation uses a dime sized amount, it will fulfilled its primary goal of coverage before its secondary goal of sun protection. Use a sunscreen product that provides sun protection only! Everything else is a bonus!
8. GLASS IS NOT A SUN BARRIER. Sunscreen isn’t only necessary when outside. If you work in an office with windows, or drive a car, the UV rays will still reach you, so it’s important to protect.
9. PROTECT THE WEE ONES. Infants lack enough tanning pigments (melanin) to protect them from the sun. Our sunscreens are formulated with clean ingredients that are safe for children and infants!
10. START EARLY, STAY HEALTHY. Using sun protection consistently from an early age is the strongest defense against developing skin cancer. Skin is skin! protect it with everything.
Bask, protected. Because a day without sunscreen is incomplete!
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