Be Sun smart | Rant

So this is probably a very "ranty" blogpost for a Saturday evening but I promise you girls in years to come you will thank me for it! 

We all know that men get better with age - take George Clooney for example. He's 52 and you wouldn't kick him out of bed for eating Tayto! But is the same true for us women? It could be, if you take care of your skin that is..

Lately, I've been hearing a lot of "Oh Rebecca, you look very pale!" and it inspired me to write this post. Yes, I am quite pale naturally, it doesn't help that I'm anemic but you'd think with the weather we are having here in Ireland that I'd surely be after getting a bit of a colour, right?

Right! Yes I have gotten a bit of a colour on my arms, legs etc. My face on the other hand I have very little colour on and YES it is intentional. I DO NOT TAN MY FACE!! 

Why? It is very simple, some of the woman in my family (my grandmother, mother and aunts) suffer from a little thing called 'skin hyper-pigmentation'.

 What is it? Basically it means that the skin produces an excess of melanin due to damage from harmful UV rays, leaving you with dark patches on the skin! Although it is not always visible straight away, it will inevitably rear its ugly head if you do not protect yourself.

 See the image below: An excellent example of the effects of sun damage on your skin!

Now, I am by no means telling you to sit inside depressed looking out at the glorious weather, that would be plain mean. What I am telling you is - Be smart!

You have heard it all before..

Wear sunscreen - I wear a min of factor 30 on my face when the weather is good and wear a moisturizer with a factor 20 built in all year round, you might that I'm getting ahead of myself, living in Ireland and all but I am telling you, you can never be too careful! UV rays are sneaky and are lurking around even on the dullest of days.

Avoid the sun when it is at it's hottest - Between the hours of 11am and 3pm the sun is highest in the sky, this is the hottest time of the day and when you're risk of skin damage is at its peak. So although it may seem like a good time to work on your tan, you are actually just helping the wrinkles along. 

Have you ever noticed that gradual fake tans always look better than instant ones? The same applies for a natural tan. It is a lot easier and a lot more comfortable for you to build your tan up gradually, being burnt alive is not nice, nor is it very attractive! 

And last but not least.. What do you think bronzer is for? Bronzer is for the sun smart! You can still have a healthy glow without any of the sun damage with the aid of your favorite bronzer, my budget fav is H&M's own brand bronzer (€5.95 for a compact that will last an absolute age).

Rant over! 

P.s: My first blog on my "Brisa Lite" treatment is to come, I want to get a good feel for it before I start ranting and raving to you guys ;)