Picnicking is always fun. Now that the warm seasons are
back, we all want to enjoy the nice weather and get our shorts out of the
closet. Before preparing our
cheap picnic baskets, let’s take a moment to think about
protecting our skin while we enjoy the bright sun.
We are all aware that skin protection is essential when we
are exposed to the sun in a picnic day. Everybody should get protected even if
you plan to stay in the shade. Doctors recommend the use of sunscreen, a sun
protection hat (not a regular hat) and sun protection clothes. They recommend
to combine them all if the UV factor is high and the exposure time is long.
Here you will find some tips that can help you better protect your skin in your
next outdoor activity.
The sunscreen is the most known form of sun protection. The
main problem with the sunscreen is that most people do not apply it correctly.
You should apply a thick layer 30 minutes before sun exposure and then reapply
every 90 minutes if the exposure continues. The experts recommend the use of a
sunscreen with a SPF (Sun Protection Factor) of 30 or 40. A sunscreen with a
higher SPF is not needed because the UV protection will increase only by 3% or
4% while the risk of allergies increases because of the extra chemicals. When
buying your sunscreen, also look for a sunscreen with “broad spectrum”. The SPF
only refers to protection against UVB. A sunscreen labeled “broad spectrum”
also includes protection against UVA.
Another option to protect your skin against ultraviolet rays
is the use of sun-protected clothes. These are not the regular summer clothes
that we usually wear. The materials in these clothes are chemically treated to
guarantee an Ultraviolet Protection Factor (UPF) that can go from 15 (good) to
50+ (excellent). The UPF is used in clothing to measure the effectiveness
against both the UVA and UVB. This is an important different between sun
protection clothes and sunscreen. When you wear sun-protected clothes, you are
being protected against both types of rays. The clothe guarantees that you get
the protection indicated in the label. If you use sunscreen and this is not
applied correctly, you end up less protected, regardless of the SPF of the
sunscreen.
A sun protection hat is also made with treated materials to
guarantee a UPF. In order to have total protection, you should look for a hat
with a brim of 3 ½ inches or more. Depending on the activity, you may want to
consider a hat with a chinstrap.
A picnic day is an activity in which we typically expose our
skin to the sun. It is therefore important to also include in our
wicker picnic baskets some form of skin protection that allows us to protect our skin while we enjoy
our picnic experience.