How to shade it safely when the sun shines
Forget what you know about thick, pasty SPF sun creams. Beauty director Sonia Haria finds the best modern versions that you’ll look forward to using…
In case you’ve been hiding under a large parasol for the past few days, let me fill you in: this week is Sun Awareness Week, an annual campaign organised by the British Association of Dermatologists to highlight the need to be safe in the sun. A survey by the organisation has identified that “more than one in three (35 per cent) of Brits have been sunburnt in the last year while in the UK, and of those 28per cent were sunburnt three or more times”.
You don’t need me to tell you that you should use some form of protection when you go into the sun – but I think there’s also a lot to be said for simply staying in the shade, not exposing yourself in direct sunlight and wearing a large hat in sunny climates.
Most of the creams out there are all about SPF, which stands for “sun protection factor” – though, more accurately, this should be “sunburn protection factor”. The figure details how it can stop the burning UVB rays, but says nothing about UVA protection, which is the wavelength that prematurely ages the skin.
“The SPF number essentially represents how many more times skin will be able to stay in the sun before it burns,” says the dermatologist Dr Stefanie Williams, “so if you can typically stay in the sun for 10 minutes before burning, using a SPF15 will protect you for 150 minutes.” Fair skin will normally burn after 10 minutes
Fair skin will tend to burn after 10 minutes, darker skin after 20 minutes
and darker skin after 20 minutes. For UVA, most products have a star rating – the higher the rating, the better the UVA protection.
Ratings aside, if there was ever a sector of the beauty industry that needed some innovation in terms of product usability, it’s suncare. Considering it is recommended for daily use on any inch of exposed skin (which I must admit I don’t do or have never done), the products are often offputting to use, typically leaving a thick film on the skin. Thankfully, this year has seen some innovation, with the launch of creams that will hydrate and nourish the skin while protecting it from the sun.
The one that I couldn’t stop using on my recent holiday was Vichy’s new Idéal Soleil Hydrating SPF30 Protective Solar Water (£19, vichy. co.uk). This is as far from a traditional sun cream as you can get, a light, oily water (which you have to shake to activate, like those bi-phase cleansers) that is dispensed as a smart mist to be used on both face and body. The oil contains broadspectrum UVA and UVB filters (the filters absorb UV rays to keep the skin protected in direct sunlight) and vitamin E to nourish the skin. The water is made up from the mineral waters from Vichy’s own springs, and hyaluronic acid (the hydrating beauty wonder ingredient). I used it for a week in Greece, reapplying several times a day, and it felt more like a luxury body oil, without the greasiness.
Another good launch is the Protect & Tan SPF 15 Tanning Oil by Bondi Sands (£15, boots.com). The sheer mention of the phrase “tanning oil” is enough to make an anti-sunbather like me cringe, but it’s a bestseller in the brand’s native Australia and I thought I’d give it a shot. The dry, nourishing oil is lovely to use. It’s a clever product that contains UV filters as well as a small amount of DHA to gradually tan the skin, but you’d need to reapply it quite often to actually get the benefits of the sun protection. Or, better still, stay hidden under that large parasol.