Last week I spent a few days on vacation with my family. There are four of us, all with fairly fair, Anglo-Saxon skin and a tendency to burn very easily.
After five days at the beach, doing water sports and playing in the sand under a very strong sun, none of us came home with sunburn. How is that possible? We followed the guidelines we always recommend.
Before: Our diet is very rich in antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables, and we take omega supplements that help keep our skin healthy and well-hydrated. I haven't done so this time, but if we're going to spend more time at the beach, we'll also add an antioxidant supplement like astaxanthin or beta-carotene .
During: On the beach we protected ourselves from the sun in the following way:
- Mineral sunscreen before arriving at the beach, this sunscreen is my favorite.
- Protective long-sleeved shirts while we did sports and played in the sun
- Wide-brimmed caps with a cape that covers the ears and the nape of the neck
- We also sought shade, some days we spent the peak sun hours indoors, and we reapplied sunscreen as directed - ours was water-resistant for up to 90 minutes, and we drank plenty of water.
Afterwards: After being in the sun all day, we took a shower and applied shea butter to areas that had some redness, and then aloe vera gel to refresh and moisturize the rest of the body.
Despite all this protection, and to be honest, writing this it seems almost excessive, we've come home with a beautiful, healthy color - that is, we've been in the sun, but we haven't gotten sunburned.