How to preserve your sun protection capital?

The solar capital cannot be restored or increased. To take care of it and prevent its premature depletion, it is important to protect it. Here are our tips for preserving your solar capital.

• Avoid exposure during the hottest hours.

  The sun's UV rays are most intense between 12pm and 4pm. Therefore, to protect one's sun capital, the first thing to do is to avoid exposure during these hours of the day.

• Protecting oneself from the sun's rays.

  Even if the goal is to tan, it is advised to exercise caution when exposing oneself to the sun, to avoid rapidly depleting one's solar capital and ending up with burnt skin instead of a tan. During prolonged exposure, it is recommended to wear covering clothing and a wide-brimmed hat, and not to hesitate to seek shade whenever the opportunity arises. Studies indeed show that it is unnecessary to expose oneself for extended periods to tan : depending on phototypes, daily exposure between 15 and 40 minutes is sufficient.

• Systematically apply a sunscreen cream.

  Sun and sun protection should always go hand in hand. Indeed, to preserve one's sun capital and take care of one's skin, it is essential to apply a sun care product daily and in sufficient quantity (2 mg per cm2) and to reapply in case of prolonged exposure. It's worth noting that it's important to use a sun protection product with a sun protection factor (SPF) of at least 30 to benefit from adequate protection. For your information, an SPF 30 blocks approximately 96.7% of UVB rays while an SPF 50 protects against 98.3% of UVB rays.

• Taking care of one's skin before and after exposure.

  When the skin is dehydrated and its hydrolipidic film is impaired, its protection against the sun's UV rays is diminished. The skin's sun resilience then tends to decrease more rapidly. To prevent the skin from displaying a sun-reddened colour instead of a beautiful brown glow, it is advised to apply a daily moisturising cream suitable for your skin type. Moreover, after sun exposure, we recommend using a after-sun product to replenish the skin's lipid layer and restore your skin's water balance. Indeed, aiding the skin in regeneration is also a way to preserve its sun resilience.

• Avoid tanning booths.

  Sunbeds, or UV booths, should be avoided at all costs as they contribute to the rapid depletion of our sun capital. Indeed, artificial UV rays are more energetic than sunlight and, consequently, much more dangerous. Furthermore, UV booths emit UVA, UVB, and UVC rays, whereas UVC rays are normally blocked by the ozone layer and do not reach our skin when we expose ourselves to the sun. They are extremely harmful to the skin and eyes. It is also worth noting that scientists from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) have estimated that exposure to artificial UV rays before the age of 30 increases the risk of developing melanoma by 75%.