Sunshine brings so much joy to life, but it's important to protect your skin from its harsh rays in order to prevent premature aging and skin cancer. If you don't want sun spots, wrinkles, discoloration, sagging skin, and, worst of all, cancerous moles, then read on for 5 ways to prevent sun damage and keep you looking younger than your years:
- Wear SPF every day. Wear sunscreen on your face every single day, rain or shine. Getting a bit of unprotected sun exposure each day may be good for you (to synthesize vitamin D, for example), but if you want your face to look youthful for as long as possible, then you need to apply sunscreen to it daily. Note that the sun rays that age skin go through clouds, meaning you still need to apply sunscreen on cloudy days.
- Wear sunglasses with UV protection. Your eyes are susceptible to sun damage, so protect them by wearing sunglasses with UV protection. Some sunglasses, particularly cheap ones you buy off the street, do not provide sun protection so make sure to verify that yours do. In addition, the delicate skin around your eyes is one of the first areas on your body to show signs of aging, so wear UV-verified sunglasses to slow the development of crow's feet.
- Eat foods that naturally boost your SPF. Tomatoes, dark leafy greens, carrots, sweet potatoes, green tea, and even dark chocolate have been shown to boost your body's natural SPF. Some antioxidants in them neutralize damaging free radicals from the sun, so eat them to lower your chances of getting a sunburn. (Note that they don't completely protect you from sun damage so are not a total replacement for sunscreen.)
- Wear protective clothing. Clothing and hats provide SPF, so you can use them to offer your skin more protection from the sun's aging rays.
- Don't go near tanning beds. Tanning beds are extremely unhealthy and should be avoided. They increase your risk of skin cancer and make you look old faster. Just avoid them.
Now I'd love to hear what you do to protect your skin from sun damage. Do you wear sunscreen on your face daily?