Monday, July 2, 2012

summer essential : sunscreens

Hello pretty girls :-) It's summer and to my surprise I got some messages asking about the use of sunscreen in this season. 


So, if you ask me, is it necessary to use sunscreen? My answer would be absolutely yes! As much as we need the sun to survive, the thinning of the ozone layer has caused the harmful UV ray to be able to reach us. My main concern is definitely pigmentation or lebih common lagi, berbelak/berbelang and of course : skin cancer. With the amount of exposure (time) I have daily -sunburn is not one of my concern.

How to pick a good sunscreen?

Over this 5 years, I have tried from Neutrogena, Clinique, L'oreal and also Dermacol sunscreen. L'oreal sunscreen turns out to be too oily and therefore is not suitable for oily skin like mine. Clinique's sunscreen was not that great given the fact that it hurts your pocket! So, Neutrogena and Dermacol has my vote. 

What do I look for in a sunscreen ? 
1. Non comedogenic - what's the use of not having pigmentation but ends up breaking out like craaaaazy.
2. Not too drying for my skin.
3. Amount of SPF.
4. Smell - for two reason : products that contains perfume is more likely to cause break out and - I memang tak suka bau kuat sangat for skin products.

How much SPF is needed?

For me, I don't go for more than 50. Neutrogena Ultra Sheer SPF 45 is good, and for Dermacol I bought the SPF 50. Is SPF 15 enough? Well, for me, I personally don't want to risk getting pigmentation because not having enough protection. But do you have to go above SPF 50 all the way to 100?? Absolutely NO! Here's why :

SPF 15 product blocks about 94% of UVB rays, an SPF 30 product blocks 97% of UVB rays, and an SPF 45 product blocks about 98% of rays. Source

Is it enough to wear moisturizer that already contain SPF? Nope. Because the amount is too little to provide you with protection. 

When do you have to apply the sunscreen? 15-20 minutes before you expose yourself to the sun. I don't wear sunscreen if I know I'll be home before 10 am, because morning sun is good for your skin - for Vitamin D and stuff. And if I have to go out in the evening I usually wait until the sun is not so intense, but if I really really really have to, I'd just apply the sunscreen. 

Do I use sunscreen in Malaysia : I do, but I'm not sure if it' necessary. Remember L'oreal sunscreen? Once I brought it back to Ipoh and just as I squeeze the bottle : the oil was separated from the cream. How horrifying!

Okay.. now we go to the most important thing we often overlooked. How about removing the sunscreen? Is water or facial wash enough?

I didn't know this until last year. The lady from Clinique booth in Kinta City told me "You Have To Remove Your Sunscreen Just Like Any Other Makeup". Some people opt for makeup remover, but for me I just don't want to be using much products on my skin. I minimize my use of products to the occasional facial cleansing gel, and moisturizer. I skipped the toner - turns out it is not that beneficial for your skin, and I wash my face with oatmeals. So, I remove my sunscreen with yoghurt. Or when I'm lazy I use Shaneeneh hehe. 

Yoghurt Mask : Yoghurt is simply amazing for your skin - will talk about this later. I loooooove putting plain yoghurt on my face when I get home in the afternoon. I'd lay down for 15-20 minutes and then rinse the yoghurt.

Shaneeneh : Just pour the shneeneh on cotton pads and wipe away the sunscreen. Easy!

My current sunscreen 

Ok, I think that's it for today. Till we meet again!

Melanoma awareness video.

1 comment:

Belle said...

"your skin is like an elephant - it never forgets"
never heard of this before.

thank you for the shanaineh tip.
it's new to me. am gonna try this.