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Friday, August 16, 2013

Sunbathing like a Boss, Part 2: Additional Protection



Hello, my beloved fellow beauties!


So this is the second part of my Sunbathing like a Boss mini-series (you can find part 1 here).
Today I wanted to talk to you about what else you can and should do to protect your skin aside from putting SPF on your body and what I personally like to do to be able to spend more time in the sun without burning myself or getting a headache.

So the first thing you really need to do is protecting your face. When I head out to buy a foundation or moisturiser I always look for ones that include a SPF. Luckily there are many out there by now that do although most of the time it's only SPF 15 which really isn't much but on days when you're only outside to get from A to B it's okay. There are some products though, that have an higher SPF of 20 or 35.

Aside from these daily measures there are sun creams especially designed to protect the thin skin of your face. Many people don't see the point of buying and extra product for the face but you wouldn't put your body lotion on your face as well, would you? I don't really understand why people make a difference when it comes to sun products there.
The skin of your face is way thinner than on your body and more sensitive so it has different needs and that is why a facial sun cream only makes sense.
The same goes for sun creams designed for the sensitive eye area / lips as well by the way!


Here are the two sun creams for the face I use regularly:


Lancaster Sun Beauty Velvet Touch Cream Radiant Tan: 
This lotion is out of the same range as my Lancaster sun cream I mentioned previously. It is much easier to apply though and has a lighter texture whereas the SPF 30 and additional qualities match that of the regular sun cream. It protects from UV A and B rays and has the Lancaster infrared technology as well as the beloved signature scent. Due to its lightness it doesn't make your face feel sticky or greasy which many people hate but it's quite an expensive little guy which is why I only use it when I'm not at home, for example at the lake with my friends.










Nivea Sun Anti-Age Sun Cream: 
This again is corresponding to the sun cream of the previous post. Same as the Lancaster one, it has a SPF 30, protects from UVA/B and additionally promises to prevent wrinkles caused by the sun and is waterproof. 'Waterproof' doesn't mean waterproof in the common sense but that after bathing for 20 min more than 50 % of the product is still there.
Contrary to the Lancaster sun cream this formula is slightly thicker and a little bit more sticky though not as much as the Nivea sun creams. It does give a bit of a greasy feeling after putting it on, however. The reason why I prefer this one while tanning at home is simply because it is only a fraction of the price of a Lancaster product.







Since the last sun-related blog post in which I stated I wasn't able to find a suitable protection for my eyes  so far, I was actually able to get my hand on a product that looks very promising but I haven't had any chance to try it yet so I won't be telling you anything about it yet. Where there's no wear, there's no opinion, right?


Douglas Hair Sun Protection Hair Spray:
What is still true is that I haven't found a product that protects my hair from the sun that I really like. In a surge of desperation I bought this hair spray last year. And that's what it really is, a hairspray and nothing more.
Although it states it would protect from UV rays and everything, I'm pretty sure it doesn't. All it does is make my hair very textured which is why I often use this as a styling tool. I imagine this might have the same effect as a salt spray, I have never seen one of those around here and while I'm curious to try one, I guess this basically does the same. It has a wonderful peachy scent though, to say at least something nice about it.










Labello Sun Protect SPF 30:
This is the last actual product I will be talking about. As you probably have already guessed, this is a protective lip balm. When I bought this, I didn't do so because I had heard so many amazing things about it but simply because it was no other thing available. I find this really annoying, there are loads of sun creams and tanning products but when it actually comes to protecting your eyes and lips, there is nothing there!
Anyways, this is a very simple and plain lip balm with a SPF 30. It doesn't have any particular scent or colour or anything. It's just bare functional.
I don't really like it because I feel like it's drying my lips and gives them this horrible white coat that you  sometimes got with the sun creams years ago, do you remember those? But I'm quite willing to endure those negatives because it's way better than risking burned lips. A friend of mine managed to burn hers once and she told me it was beyond horrible.
I probably will be searching for another one in the winter months when the skiing season starts again. You should protect your face in the mountains even more than on the beach because due to being higher up the sun light gets more intensive and the snow reflecting it is making everything worse.


Protecting yourself is all very well but, let's be honest, we all like to lie in the sun and tan. Personally I find it quite annoying if I'm relaxing and after ten minutes I feel a headache creeping up on me, accompanied by a naughty dizziness.
The following tips are some things I like to do and that work for me to prolong the time I can spend in the sun, I don't guarantee they will work for you or are particularly healthy, so please, if they don't help you, just move out of the sun and into the shadows.
A tan is never worth the risk of a heatstroke!


  1. Drink! Drinking is vital in every situation you can get into but especially if this situation involves being out in the sun. Your body loses a lot of moisture by sweating and it is so important you give it back. Best is drinking water or some warm drinks. I know, I don't like drinking tea or stuff when it's hot as well but in fact your body can cope with the warm temperature much better than when you drink something coming out of the fridge. In the worst case a too cold drink could cause circulation problems.
  2. Keep your head protected. When I'm tanning I often find I get dizzy or a headache although I'm drinking loads but I just don't want to move out of the sun just yet. What I do then is moving my sunbed or whatever in a position that my head is in the shadows but the rest is still exposed to the sun. Most of the time it gets much better that way but if it doesn't there's no point in it and I have to get myself out of the sun.
  3. Careful with the water. I got my worst burns whilst swimming. This is because water acts as a lens and intensifies the UV rays and that makes your skin burn faster and worse. The tricky thing is that you'll probably only notice when it's too late as the water of course is cooling everything and is pleasant anyways. But bear that in mind when you're swimming. Also, you should properly dry yourself after getting out of the water.
  4. Wet clothes. Another thing I like to do to cool myself down a bit as get my shirt or anything wet and then simply wear it over my bikini. That is not advisable if you're at the beach though, haha.
  5. Vary your parting. Now that may sound a bit weird but in fact I do not now how to protect the skin on my head where I part my hair properly because, let's face it, who wants to put sun cream on their head? Because I'm really lazy when it comes to my hair do I wear it most of the time in the same fashion and that results in very frequent burns on my scalp. If that happens it is important to change the parting, perhaps to the other side or to the middle of your head, best is on a daily base. To prevent a sun burn you could also just wear a hat or style your hair in a fashion that leaves no parting to be exposed to the sun. 
  6. Don't forget to protect your ears! That's pretty much self-explanatory but is still a thing I keep on forgetting all the time so I thought I'd better put it in here as well. No one likes burned ears, right?


Remember, these things work for me and aren't based on any research I did or medical / biological facts or are particularly healthy. Not that I know they aren't but please, just mind that.


That's already it for the second part of this series! I hope you enjoyed it and will stay tuned for my After Sun Care-post next week. 
Also, I'd love it if you would tell me your favourite sun tips in the comments! I get dizzy in the sun and heat so fast and I'm always eager to try new tips and tricks to be able to stay out longer.


Have a most splendid day!
xx








3 comments:

  1. Seems like everyone is posting about tanners today! I have found many reviews. There are so many brands out there. I'm lucky that I fortunately dont need them. I hope you'll have a chance and stop by my blog. All about Beauty. Life. and DIY. If you ever have an OTD, LOTD, hair or nail tutorial, or a fun fashion DIY, I'd love for you to share it at "That's my Style" Link party every Friday. Don't have anything to share? Stop by anyway for beauty tutorial and fun DIY projects. Hope to see you there. :)

    Karla @ www.MySerendipitousLife.com

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  2. Thanks for this, I always do burn even in England!

    If you want come and check out my blog:

    Www.caseycakes0403.blogspot.co.uk

    Xoxoxo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. But from what I heard burning in England was rather easy this summer, wasn't it? ^^ But I always burn in Germany as well, mainly in spring :P

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