Is Make up with Sunscreen effective or not?

I love being practical and all, so it is clear that I love combination products, too. Make up containing sunscreen is a perfect example, since there are fewer layers to apply, less time needed to get it done and SPF protection, which is a must for your skin always!... 

But, is the sun protection offered by the SPF containing make up, enough to protect your skin? Is the sun protection we get really up the alley, or are we just being fooled? 

Actually, it is none of the above... Keep in mind the golden rule that insufficient amounts of sunscreen, causes the SPF to fall dramatically to the root of the labelled SPF on the product bottle. So let's say we have a foundation marketed with an SPF of 15. If insufficient amounts of the product are used, the SPF will be the square root of 15, being reduced to 4, and SPF 50 will be reduced to 7!

If this isn't enough, there are a lot neglected areas when we put make up on... Even the amount of make up we put on tends to be minimal, to avoid the cakey face, or the clown face...

Do you apply your make up uniformly and in the right amount needed to attain the goodies of the labelled sunscreen? Also a lot of make up contains protection just against UVB rays, so against sunburn. 

Since both UVA and UVB are harmful, you need protection from both kinds of rays. Do not forget that UVA rays are long ultraviolet rays, known to cause premature aging of the skin and skin cancer. If you want to spot a make up that has UVA protection, it must be labellet "UVA protection", or "Broad spectrum protection". 

It doesn't mean that just because your make up has SPF it will give you the sun protection you need. So do not rely solely on your make up for your sun protection. Or, use it uniformly, in generous amounts and everywhere that you need protection. Be aware that it must contain UVA protection as well. 

Otherwise just use a broad spectrum SPF containing cream underneath your make up. If you do this, it's hard to tell how a sunscreen will react with another sunscreen, unless you know specifically what the active ingredients are, and how they would react with each other. But we aren't all PhD holders. 

So the easiest way is to just have only ONE product with SPF in your routine and apply that properly. That way, you can be sure it won't have any other sunscreen ingredients to interfere with its effaciacy. Don't get a moisturizer with SPF, a foundation with SPF, and try to layer them both with a sunscreen. That's just a waste of all that sun protection in the product. 

If I were you I would get just a cream with broad spectrum SPF and no SPF make up...

Stay well!

Best Sun Protection Methods

Hi everybody living in the Northern hemisphere of planet Earth! The summer is coming and with it, the pleasure of going to the beach and... relaxing!

But be careful not to relax too much in the sun without the appropriate protection, especially if it is your first time this year. Otherwise you are going to get a nasty sun burn in just half an hour! Yes, I am not kidding!

If it is 12:00 AM to 2:00 PM and you are not wearing a protective cream containing  SPF 50 or higher, half an hour is enough to make your first day at the beach, a nightmare. 

If your skin is not so pale like mine, than maybe the sun rays will do the same job, in approximately 45 minutes! I don't want to scare you, but it is very important to be really careful when you go for the first time to the beach. Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to go  to the beach! Needless to say, I was very happy and in a hurry, resulting in me, forgetting my sun glasses. But, at least I took the sun protection measures, a hat and the spf cream. 

After sitting under the umbrella and listening to the sea I got so relaxed that I felt asleep. It was one of the best moments for a while, but when i got up, the shadow of my umbrella has moved leaving half of my body exposed to the sun! So, the next day one of my arms and legs were red as a tomato. But that's not all! I couldn't get any sleep that night, the sun burns were very itchy... Be careful not to ruin your holidays...
So my advices are as follow:

1. Before you go to the beach or anywhere outside to take some sun, be careful not to forget the sun protective cream spf 50 or 50 + in the first days, your sunglasses, a cap and a lots of fluids to hydrate your body (ice tea, beer, or whatever you like.) I prefer just plain water.

2. Do not stay long hours under the sun. The mid day hours are the most dangerous ones. Even if you have used a sun protection cream, try to avoid the long exposures. The best hours to get the 'good' sun rays are 7-10 AM. If you are like me, which means that you like to stay too much in the sea, having fun, then, may be wearing a white t-shirt is the best way to protect your skin. The white color reflects all the ray spectrum of the sun keeping you cool and protected. And at the same time use a hat and sun glasses! Yes, I do swim like this sometimes and believe me it is really cool! ;)

Now lets say a few words for the benefits of the sunlight, after talking too much of its dangers. First of all sun is life itself. Without the sun we can not live, I wouldn't write this article and you of course, wouldn't read it. :P

Second, from the sunlight we get the vitamin D! This vitamin is produced in our skins by the help of the ultraviolet spectrum of the sun rays . Our body can not produce vitamin D, if we are, let's say, exposed to the sun behind a window. We need to get direct sun light to be able to produce the vitamin D.

Exposing our cheeks and forehead for approximately an hour to the sun is normally enough to take the daily dose of vitamin D. Unfortunately, during the winter months, I don't think that the majority of us, can fulfill their vitamin D needs, in the natural ways, so we should take some vitamin D supplements.

But exposing your whole body to the sun, in the summer period can give you the chance to produce a supply of some months, of vitamin D, since this vitamin is an oil based vitamin. This means that in difference from the water based vitamins, it can by stored in the liver. So, it is no wonder, that when we have long summer holidays, we will feel better and be healthier during the cold winter months. This shows how important vitamin D is for our body.

The major duties of this vitamin are: 

1. Calcium metabolism regulator

2. Immune system booster

3. Insulin secretion booster 

4. Sustaining the low blood pressure.

Stay well and protect your skin. :)