You think it will never happen to you, but a survey from Soleve™ Sunburn Relief, the only licensed product of its type for relieving the pain and discomfort of mild to moderate sunburn, reveals that three out of five Brits have been caught out with sunburn in the past five years.
Soleve Surnburn Relief
With three out of five (60%) of us have had our holidays spoilt by sunburn, only half -(50%) preparing for our sun care routine before we go on holiday
Only of us bother taking a first aid kit on holiday (50%), just two women in a hundred top up their protection after swimming, and three in four do not know which protection factor is recommended for their skin type it is easy to understand why.
Here are ten tips to help avoid sunburn and staying safe in the sun from Dr Paul Stillman
1) Be sun care aware - always use a high SPF sunscreen (SPF 30+) for UVB protection and check it has a minimum of 4 stars for UVA protection.
2) Believe it or not, sand can actually increase reflected radiation by up to 17%[2], so if you're going to the beach take extra precautions by avoiding the sun's most powerful rays between 11am and 3pm.
3) If you can see through your T-shirt (e.g. loose weave material), the sun's rays can sneak through and cause sunburn², so make sure you slap on the sunscreen too. Remember to reapply often, as most SPF products only work if you keep religiously slathering them on every 1 to 2 hours².
4) Fancy a dip? Around 85% of sunscreen protection is removed when you towel-dry after swimming. Make sure you reapply afterwards.
5) Don't forget the little ones! Make sure children are well covered with appropriate clothing and sun protection when playing about in the sun. And, if like 32% of the mums in a recent Soleve survey, you're too busy looking after the rest of your sun-loving tribe, don't forget to apply your own sunscreen too!
6) Keep all children under six months old out of direct sunlight.
7) Don't be fooled by seemingly protective overcast skies, 30-40% of UV will still penetrate through cloud cover. For example, if half the sky is covered in clouds, 80% of UV will still shine through. So if you're out in the open air for any length of time, you still need to follow the usual sun-safe precaution drill - pop on a hat, smooth on some sunscreen, slip on those shades and drape yourself in loose clothing.
8) Don't neglect your forgotten bits! Some parts of our body are easily forgotten when applying sunscreen and sadly often get burnt, so remember to apply sunscreen to your feet, neck, ears and lips. If you have thin or thinning hair, apply sunscreen to the scalp as well. Even if your hair isn't thin, you might want to think about putting sunscreen on any parting too, or better still pop on a hat to avoid getting burnt.
9) Remember to pack Soleve Sunburn Relief as part of your holiday first aid kit. Soleve is a unique combination of pain relieving ibuprofen, which takes the sting from burnt skin, and the soothing and rehydrating emollient isopropyl myristate to help lock in moisture, reduce skin tightness and minimise any further irritation from clothing. This easy-to-apply, silky smooth emulsion should be used at the first sign of sunburn and can be applied up to eight times a day.[3] Look for Soleve in the Boots sun care aisle (next to sun protection). Alternatively, simply order online by visiting boots.com.
10) When choosing a sunscreen, always check the bottle for an expiry date; you should never use sun cream after the use by date, because you won't be protected from the sun's harmful rays.
If you do get caught out make sure you have packed Soleve™ Sunburn Relief to quickly ease the misery of too much sun.
Tagged in Sunburn