At the beginning of this year I went and had my first ever skin cancer check-up.
I have pretty fair skin, and even though I have never really intentionally gone and sun baked, like most kids who grew up in Australia in the 80's and 90's, I spent my school holidays either at the beach or in the pool, so I was pretty scared about the doctor finding something. I had a couple of moles that I thought looked a bit suspect. I thought I knew all the signs to look for, and I thought that for sure I'd need to get something cut out. Thankfully, I was wrong. All that worry for nothing. Phew!
Within the next few days I was at a shoot at the beach. For seven hours. There was no shade apart from a couple of beach umbrella's, and copious amounts of sunscreen. The day started out cloudy and even a bit rainy, but by the time we had made it to the beach to start shooting, the sun came out and it was one of the first really hot days of the year.
Needless to say, I burned. For about 3 days, I glowed in the dark. Then I peeled. I peeled non-stop for a month. I was using macadamia oil after the shower and before bed to try and stop the peeling, but I was already cooked, and my skin was coming off in sheets. It was disgusting, and I vowed never to let it happen again.
You could say I became a bit obsessed with sun protection.
I'd seen lots of advertising around for
Invisible Zinc, and remembering the neon zinc sticks from my childhood, was intrigued that they had made this product in an invisible form! I was grocery shopping noticed a sample tube of the Tinted Daywear on the Women's Weekly magazine. Yes!
So I tried it.. and I fell in love!
Anti-aging? Check! SPF 30+? Check! It's also tinted, and comes in two shades. It makes your skin glow. Glow! Makeup sits nicely on top if you'd like a bit extra coverage (I do), or you could wear it on its own, maybe with a bit of translucent powder to combat the shine if you wanted.
The best part is that I know that by wearing it, I am protecting my skin with a physical barrier, reflecting the suns rays away from my skin. Chemical sun creams work by absorbing the rays. The chemicals are also absorbed into your skin. Yuck.
Today is the first day of Autumn, which means Summer is over for another year, but this doesn't mean that we should stop wearing an SPF every day. That's right, repeat after me. Every. Day.
Here's why:
There are 2 types of the suns rays that reach us - UVA and UVB.
UVB rays are the ones that cause sunburn. Generally you will feel them as heat on your skin and will feel when you are getting sunburnt.
UVA rays are the ninjas of the sun rays. They're the ones that cause premature aging as they penetrate deep into the skin. They are stealthy and you won't feel them. Don't think that because its not summer that UVA's wont get you. They will. And you wont even know until its too late.
Invisible Zinc is a broad spectrum sun block, which means that it blocks both UVA and UVB, making it a great all year round moisturiser.
If you need more proof of what a lovely product this is, its also won the Judges Choice Award at the 2010 Australian Beauty Awards.
Invisible Zinc retails for around $32 for a 50g tube, which will last you a couple of months. To find a stockist near you click
here.
Note: I strongly recommend that you go and get a skin check up. It only takes about 15 minutes and it doesn't hurt, nor is it embarrassing or invasive in any way, and its only once a year. It's important! You already know the statistics, but here they are again, just to jog your memory.
