May is skin cancer awareness month, as the days get sunnier (fingers crossed) the exposure to harmful UV rays increases.

Ill be discussing the potential risks and how to prevent them so you can stay safe in the sun.

The campaign aims to reduce instances of skin cancer and  help people diagnose the symptoms early.

Sun burn in the UK is more common than us Brits like to think, 35% of the population where sun burnt last year alone, and of those people 28% where burnt two or more times. Another study found that 8 out of 10 people don’t apply sun cream before going out in the UK.

Skin cancer is now the most common form of cancer and the cases of it continue to rise, around 2,500 people die of skin cancer every year in the UK, many of which are preventable cases. According to the British skin foundation there are 3 main types of skin cancer, ‘malignant melanoma, squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and basal cell carcinoma (BCC).’

Furthermore constant unprotected sun exposure will cause premature ageing, far more than smoking or any other environmental factor.  People who tan or have repeated sun damage can look 11 years older than their peers who have been responsible in the sun.

Melanoma is the most deadly for of skin cancer but there are some simple things you can do to prevent them and detect them.

Sun screen!!!

SPF stands for sun protection factor, the numbers relate to how long you can stay protected from UVB rays, these are the rays that make you burn and turn pink. If you would burn after 20 minutes of direct sun exposure, an SPF 30 sunblock should give you protection for 10 hours. But sunblock can ware off especially if you’re at the beach or pool that is why reapplying it is so important. However no sunblock is fail safe, SPF 30 only blocks out about 97% of the harmful rays, that is why a multi pronged approach is so important.

‘Mad dogs and Englishmen (and women ) stay out in the midday sun.’

Between 11am and 3pm the sun is at its most potent, if you are very fair skinned you should seek shelter at these times as it only takes a few minutes of intense sun fro these skin types to burn.

Cover Up

A physical block between your skin and the sun is always going to be the best method of prevention. Sun hats, kaftans and other sun safe clothing can easily be worked into any sunny day style, and will help dramatically in the fight against sun burn.

This Kimono Cover up from Pretty little thing is cute and functional in helping protect against harmful sun rays.

Get it here! 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some of my favourite sun protection products:

Nivea

Nivea daily essentials face cream, this product has an SPF 15 in it so is great for every day use and for sensitive skin.

 

 

Another great and well known Nicea product is the Protect and Moisture Nivea sun cream. This is good for people who are usually irritated by the harsh ingredients in standard sunblock.

 

Hawaiian Tropic

This Satin protection from Hawaiian tropic helps you still gain a bit of a sun kissed look without damaging your skin. It also is one of the best smelling sunscreens as it doesn’t have a harsh chemical smell.

 

 

 

Another great product from Hawaiian tropic is there tanning oil. This is definitely for people with darker complexions who only need a small amount of SPF to block the harmful rays. Any tanning oils used on fair skin can catalyse burning which is not good! This also comes in an SPF 12 version for a bit more protection.

 

 

As the weather gets warmer remember to protect your self, before you wreck your self.