It’s natural to spend your days in the sunny outdoors, especially come summertime. It can feel nice and warm to the skin when you bask in the sun and soak up on Vitamin D. However, it isn’t always healthy and a good idea for you.
Too much sun exposure risks your skin of sun damage and even cancer. Ultraviolet rays are the primary cause of skin cancer, and overexposure to the sun can result in sunburn, eye damage, and premature wrinkles.
If you want to maintain your youthful skin, you need to protect yourself against the harsh sun. Keep reading below to discover four precautions to help shield your skin from sun damage.
1. Wear Protective Clothing
Protective clothing that blocks harmful ultraviolet rays keeps your skin safe from overexposure. It is one of the best solutions against sun damage. Be sure to purchase items with ultraviolet protection factor (UPF) labels, indicating that an article of clothing can save you against the sun’s harmful rays.
For instance, a UPF 90 rating allows only 1/50th of the sun’s harmful UV radiation to seep through the clothes and into your skin. In addition, buying loose-fitting items increases the protection of UPF clothing.
2. Avoid Sunlight from 10 A.M. to 2 P.M.
The sun’s UV rays become strongest between ten in the morning and two in the afternoon. It’s recommended to stay out of direct sunlight and remain indoors within this timeframe to protect your skin against sun damage.
If you’re in the backyard or at the beach within these hours, it’s best to find a shade where you can rest and let the hours pass until it’s safe. You may also use an oversized umbrella or create a canopy so you can still enjoy the outdoors while staying away from sun damage.
3. Put On Protective Eye Gear
Too much UV light exposure leads to major eye problems like cataracts, photokeratitis, pinguecula, macular degeneration, and pterygia. Your eyes need as much sun protection as your skin, so don’t neglect it when you’re outdoors.
Give your eyes the best sun protection by wearing sunglasses that block 100 percent harmful UV rays. You should put them on when you’re outside in broad daylight and even on cloudy days since there are still powerful UV rays during those times.
4. Apply Sunscreen Religiously
Sunscreen is essential to adequately protect your skin against the sun’s damaging UV rays. Both UVA and UVB can cause fine lines, wrinkles, and age spots that speed up your skin’s aging process. In addition, you can also find the High Energy Visible (HEV) light or blue light we get from smartphones and computer screens contributing to skin damage.
Moreover, the sun’s IR-A (infrared) light can cause long-term damage to the collagen in the skin, and overexposure can lead to melanoma or skin cancer. That makes applying sunscreen to all parts of your body that sunlight may hit crucial more than ever.
Conclusion
Our skin is at risk of sun damage every day, which is why we should take preventative measures to protect it. One of the most important ways is to apply sunscreen, giving our skin the necessary protection it needs against harmful UV rays.
Provide your skin the proper TLC it needs by using sunscreen and skincare products that help protect and nourish it every day, like the wondrous healing bark face mask. This product is the ancient beauty secret of the Burmese to achieve skin that is clear, glowing, and youthful.
At Healing Bark, we offer face masks made from the Thanaka tree bark, a cream or paste mask that is anti-aging, anti-fungal, antiseptic, and astringent. If you want to cool your skin, prevent acne, and protect yourself from harsh UV rays and sun damage, the tree bark powder mask is what you need. Try it today and see the results for yourself!