When you imagine applying sunscreen, you can see yourself going over the main parts of your face, (nose, cheeks, forehead), the tops of your arms & shoulders where you can reach and MAYBE parts of your legs... But there are many parts of the body that are regularly missed, yet are so important to protect.
The Scalp
Let's start our journey from the top of our body: the head, specifically the hair. Hair protects our scalp from the effects of radiation however it can suffer from sun damage, causing changes in color and loss of its protein structure becoming, if not properly cared for, more fragile and brittle.
It's important to use nourishing products that protect you from the sun, as well as wide-brim hats and caps so that neither our heads nor our hair suffer from the harsh rays of the sun.
The Eyelids
Naturally the eyelids are missed due to the potential of the product shifting down into our eyes and causing us discomfort. Finding a super sensitive topical, such as our 360° Water Gel or a stick sunscreen which is formulated to hold its place can help as well as wearing polarised sunglasses that wrap around to protect the eye area from all angles.
The Ears
The ears are extremely important to protect because they are one of the areas in which basal cell carcinomas appear more frequently, which increases the possibility of developing skin cancer in the future.
Protecting the area from the sun's rays, not only during summer but throughout the year, is essential. To do this, wear your hair down or wear broad-rimmed hats and always apply a quality sunscreen.
Neck & Neckline
The neck and décolleté are particularly vulnerable areas where the skin is thin and sensitive due to the lack of sebaceous (fat & oil) glands and muscular support. For this reason, the skin here tends to show signs of photoaging earlier than other parts of the body. Extending your skincare regime to include this area will help to slow the visible signs of aging.
The Hands
The next time you're driving, walking your dog or even typing at your laptop, look down at where your hands are placed. You'll notice that the backs of our hands are exposed to a substantial amount of light yet the fronts are usually the parts covered in sunscreen during application!
Normally, when we apply sun protection on the arms we forget to extend it all the way. It is important that we finish the tour, applying the photoprotector both on the inside of the hands and on the outside where skin is generally weaker and more vulnerable.
The Feet
The lower part of the body, especially the insteps, the back of the feet and the hamstrings themselves, are another of the great forgotten. Although they are all the way down there, the sun's rays do reach them, so protecting them as well as you protect the rest of your body is just as important.
In Conclusion
Unless you're hopping in a bath full of sunscreen or heading to a sunscreen spray-booth (great idea BTW!) we need to be conscious of all the areas of skin that will be exposed to light throughout the day when applying our sun protection.
Heliocare sunscreens are boosted with Fernblock® technology, protecting our skin from the 4 solar radiations (UVA • UVB • HEVL • IR-A), neutralising free radicals and repairing sun damage both on the outside and on the inside. Pairing your topical sunscreen with Heliocare Oral Capsules helps to reinforce the protection of the forgotten areas that we have just discussed.
