A Pale Girl's Guide To Sun Protection

Hello Lovelies! As someone who is super pale, sun protection is something that I'm more than familiar with. However when Spring/Summer comes around, I'm usually the first to get burnt, ending up burning my nose - and getting the nickname Rudolph (I love my friends). But recently I've realised that I should take sun protection a little more seriously. A statistic that really scares me is the fact that if you've had five or more sun burns, you are twice as likely to get melanoma, which is the most serious form of skin cancer. Hearing that was a bit of a wake up call, so I thought I'd share with you some of my own tips on how to protect yourself from the sun: 

1. Use Sun Cream (Don't be lazy!)

Ok so this first tip is a no brainer really, but it's one of these things that I feel like a lot of us are just too lazy to do, or we avoid the sun cream because we want to tan - my sister did this in Greece and she came back red (ouch!). But there's actually more to sun cream than you'd think. There's a lot of different types, with higher SPFs and different qualities. If you're super pale or have sensitive skin, you want to choose a higher SPF, but if you have quite sun resistant skin you can go for a lower one. If you're going swimming then you want to make sure you get one that's water resistant - otherwise it's going to wash off straight away. You can also get ones that are tan activating, so you can tan a little whilst protecting your skin from the sun. Another important thing that you need to remember when applying sun cream is to apply it generously as a thin layer won't protect your skin very well at all. 

2. Use Makeup Products With an SPF in Your Daily Routine

You might have noticed that some of your makeup products have an SPF built in, usually moisturisers, so I had a root around my makeup drawer and picked out some of the best ones I could find: 

You've probably noticed that a lot of day moisturisers have an SPF 15, and this is a super easy way to protect your skin in your day to day routine. The Clinique Super Defense Moisturiser* is a moisturiser I've recently tried with a relatively high SPF of 20. It's great for people like me who have slightly oily skin but want a light moisturiser that will protect them from the sun without being too heavy that it makes your skin feel icky and oily - the last thing you want when you're out and about. It also has age prevention qualities built in - which I'm not exactly worried about yet, but I guess it's a plus! If you're interested in buying this, you can find it in House of Fraser's Skin Care section, here. There are also much cheaper options on the market (sometimes it's actually quite hard to buy one without and SPF), so it is super easy to build sun protection into your daily routine! 

I have to say I was pretty surprised when I realised that my Rimmel London Lasting Finish foundation (£7.99) actually has an SPF of 20, because as far as I'm aware foundations don't usually have an SPF? Correct me if I'm wrong! Either way this shows that you should keep your eyes open for products with sun protection as you might be surprised what actually does have an SPF factor.

A lighter alternative to sun cream for your face is Soap and Glory's Sunshield Superfluid (£15.00). It's got a super high SPF of 50 so is perfect for taking away on holiday with you, plus it feels nice and light on your skin. My only complaint is it's a little small for the price, but if you're only intending to use it on holiday then it will definitely last and will fit nicely into a travel makeup bag. 

3. When You Do Burn, Treat It Quickly! 

If you do get unfortunately get sun burnt, there are quite a few things you can do to alleviate the pain and help the burn to go away quickly. The first thing you want to do is moisturise the burn as soon as possible, and keep doing this frequently until the burn goes away, preferably just after you've had a bath or shower. Another great way to help the sun burn to heal is to keep hydrated and drink more water than usual. And of course you want to make sure you cover up the burn because exposing it to the sun will only make things worse! 

4. Avoid Using Products That Increase Sun Sensitivity

Products that exfoliate or face masks can sometimes make your skin much more sensitive to the sun, so you want to read the labels of these types of products carefully to make sure that you're not using them just before going into the sun. The famous DIY lemon sugar face scrub, for example is something you want to avoid doing in the morning as it will really increase your chances of burning. My sister actually has a face mask that you can't go into direct sunlight after using for seven days! So be careful about what products you're using, as some of them can make your skin even more sensitive. 

5. Buy A Big Floppy Hat

Yes, I am giving you a very good excuse to go out and buy a new hat. Wearing a big floppy hat in the summer/spring is a great way to protect yourself from direct sun rays and keep cool - so if you've been tempted to buy one, you now have a very good reason to!

Thank you for reading lovelies! Please do let me know if you have some good tips for sun protection or any great products that you'd recommend to me! 

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