Fun in the sun

Summer time is just around the corner and after a particularly rainy winter, it's about time we finally get the chance to swim, laze about on the beach and finish the day with a barbecue.

But before we all run out into the sun, just think about last summer and the summer before that, it's highly likely that you got burnt, you forgot to wear sunglasses and a hat and you might even have got sun stroke due to the copious amounts of alcohol you were drinking whilst in the sun.

New Zealand has a high rate of skin cancer due to the ozone layer depletion and the stronger UV rays, which is why we need to be extra careful about how we treat our body while underneath those burning rays. Always remember slip, slop, slap: slip on some sunglasses, slop on some sunscreen and slap on a hat.

There is also many natural ways you can protect yourself from those harmful rays. There are many natural sun-protection products that feature a variety of vitamins and other nutrients, as well as botanicals, which help protect your skin.

Green Tea has been proved to help stop burning in the sun. It is a featured ingredient in many natural sun-protection products. The topical application of green tea may also protect against the sun. Other ingredients usually found in natural sun protection include titanium oxide and zinc oxide, vitamin C and moisturisers, such as aloe vera and jojoba and shea butter.

Most importantly, if you are looking for a good natural sun protector, check out that you are not allergic to it. Put a little bit on your arm and if no reactions occur, such as rashes or itchiness, it should be fine to use.
If you want help with reducing sensitivity to light, vitamin E can be very helpful. Taking antioxidents also helps protect our skin, and if it doesn't help you at least you will be nice and healthy looking for the summer months and you won't have that beer belly from all that winter eating.

For those of you who want to have great eyesight later on in life, ensuring that you wear sunglasses EVERY time you leave the house is very important. It is not a surprise to hear that sun exposure contributes to the development of cataracts, a whitening of the eye lens that obscures vision. Cataracts are very annoying once you get older so why not prevent the condition while you can slynkey girls.

If you can avoid going out in the sun between the hours of 11 a.m. and 3 p.m, those are the worst times of the day for sun exposure.

And if you think a sun bed will give you a safe tan, think again. You are just as likely to get burnt and get skin cancer later in life if you use a sun bed. Fake tan may is a much better option in the long run.

Enjoy your summer months but make sure you stay sun safe; a red lobster is not an attractive look slynkey girls!

By Lucy Mullinger - Auckland