So I obviously had a great holiday weekend as I am just realizing this is Monday and I didn’t post Sunday, time flies when you’re having fun. Happy Memorial Day. Thank you to all the service men and women. Freedom isn’t free. So very thankful for our troops; past, present and future. I am sure some, if not all of you enjoyed the holiday with some sun, whether it was like me at a waterpark and zoo or at the lake or just outside grillin, it is the unofficial start of Summer. As I scroll through my social media newfeeds they are overloaded with sunburn pictures. I mean I expect to see tanners out in public. I almost walked up to a lady at the waterpark to tell her she looked like she rolled in doritos and that is a bad example to her children but my husband wouldn’t let me. I figure premature aging is enough punishment for her anyways, those leathery wrinkles, bless her heart. But MY friends, on MY socialmedia feeds, SUNBURNED!!! Oh I just can’t have it, just won’t allow it! The thing is most of you tried. Most of the pictures were failed sun protection attempts. It’s amusing that it is so hard to use sunscreen which is why most of the pictures made it to social media anyways. I like the tips the American Academy of Dermatology gives on sunscreen (www.aad.org) and I will include some of that info in this post.
Drumroll please………Here are the top five sunscreen mistakes of Memorial Day 2014.
1. Thinking sunscreen is enough-MISTAKE! One made by the best of ‘em too. I saw one of my most favorite people posting a pic of her using her sunscreen, in a bikini, not under any shade, c’mon! You gotta seek shade, avoid the hottest hours of the day and wear sun protective clothing, sunglasses and hats. There is a reason the FDA made them quit putting the word sunblock on the bottle-its more like a screen door then a metal door-some stuff still gets through.
2. The mistake of thinking it is waterPROOF sunscreen when it is acutally waterRESISTANT. There is no such thing as waterproof sunscreen so you have to be extra careful when in the pool, lake, etc. The bottle should say 40 or 80 minute after the word waterresistant and that is how often you should be re-applying if in water. BUT you need to at least reapply everytime you get out of the water or after a good sweat. Just to be safe I advise a swim shirt, especially on your littles who have more sensitive skin. Use water resistant all the time.
3.Mistakenly not using broadspectrum sunscreen-Always use broadspectrum sunscreen. This means it gets the UVA and UVB types of harmful UV rays. UVA and UVB are basically just different wavelengths but they can both cause skin cancer so you want a broadspectrum to protect you. If you really want to get fancy use physical blockers like the ingredient zinc oxide-you can still see it after application but for kids you can do fun colors they like anyways.
4.The ever popular mistake of not using enough sunscreen-Apply liberally. This is one of those “the more the better” kinda gigs. AAD recommends a 30 SPF or higher and to use at least 1 ounce. One ounce is two tablespoons or a full shot glass. So don’t be stingy, lather up!
5. And my least favorite is the mistake of not applying frequently enough- If you put your sunscreen on at 7AM and then never reapplied, that’s a problem. You should reapply every two hours. If in water then everytime you get out of the water and every 40-80 minutes (check the bottle). If you get super sweaty then you should reapply like you’re in a pool. The more (often) the merrier but make sure you didn’t get a sunscreen/insect repellant combo because insect repellent should be put on less often and in a lesser amount.
Hope you all enjoyed the holiday weekend! If your sunburn made facebook then I expect to see you this week at the clinic to help you with that. I won’t even scold you, it’s hard to be sunsmart. That’s partly why 1 in 5 Americans will have skin cancer in their lifetime. Hope you all have an amazing week, stay skintastic.
Sending skin love your way, Nina
