Skincare’s Best Beauty Routine includes Sunscreen with SPF

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Bustle.com

With summer just around the corner, do you know what this season’s hottest trend is? Besides the huge heat wave coming and everybody getting vaccinated, skincare is more important than ever. Due to COVID-19 people are spending more time outdoors. It is estimated that we spend an average of 14 hours outside each week, which is three more hours than older data suggests. While it’s great that we’re all eager to spend more time outside and are focusing on improving mental and physical health, we need to think of protecting the largest organ of our bodies, our skin.

Our skin has important and complicated roles, like providing a flexible, airtight, waterproof barrier between our bodies and the outside world. Our skin shields us from UV radiation by producing melanin. This is a dangerous responsibility and most skin cancers are caused by too much exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light. UV rays can come from the sun, tanning beds, sunlamps or any other source of UV light. This damage to our skin cells can create numerous problems and health concerns. To prevent sunburn, premature aging, skin cancer, and other ailments it’s essential that we incorporate sunscreen into our daily beauty routines.

According to cdc.gov, skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States. The most common types of skin cancer are basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas and it is suggested that 4.3 million adults are treated each year at a cost of around $4.8 billion. By applying sunscreen every day, you cut your risk of contracting skin cancers in half. Not only decreasing your chances of cancer, you also decrease the amount of damage from UV rays. UV rays contribute to photoaging of the skin, which results discoloration, lines, sagging and wrinkles. The older women you see walking on the beach or out of tanning salons with the thick, sagging, wrinkly, leather-looking skin are the perfect examples of what we’re trying to avoid.

Thankfully, many beauty brands have our back. The rise of skincare including SPFs are skyrocketing. According to Statista, the sun care industry is one of the fastest growing categories of skin care. This is due to the increasing global awareness of the harmful effects the sun can have on unprotected skin. The forecasted sale value of skincare products worldwide is $220 billion.

John Hopkins Medicine suggests that our daily use of sunscreen should have a SPF of at least 30, and it should be reapplied every two hours. If you plan on spending more time outside, a SPF of 60 is recommended and reapplication after swimming or sweating is necessary.

Luckily for us, there are many products that are on the rise and are perfect for our skincare needs. Whether it’s a spray, mist, oil, or traditional cream, sunscreen is here to stay in our everyday beauty regimens. To protect your scalp, Supergoop! has a 100% mineral sunscreen powder with SPF 45 that protects the skin from UVA and UVB rays. ILIA Beauty sellsFlow-Thru Radiant Translucent Powder SPF 20, perfect for applying over a sunscreen base layer while providing micro-fine pearl pigments, which gives a nice glowy finish. Supergoop! also sells their Glow Stick Sunscreen SPF 50 that acts as a glow boosting product while giving SPF 50 protection. There are even eyeshadows with SPF in it (Supergoop! Shimmershade Illuminating Cream Eyeshadow SPF 30)! Tula is another brand that has SPF products, including their Daily Sunscreen Gel Broad Spectrum SPF 30.This broad-spectrum sunscreen protects from pollution and even blue light, making it perfect for outdoor and indoor protection.  

This year is the year for taking care of ourselves and prioritizing our health. Vitamin D can improve our health by battling depression and regulating our immune system, so getting outside to soak up the sun is essential. Anxiety, depression and other mental health issues can be eased by going outside according to wphospital.org. While we should prioritize our physical and mental health by going outdoors, we still need to remember to take care of our skin and apply sunscreen daily.