Protect Yourself!

Hi everyone! ♥

I’m back!! I have been so busy, big school projects, family members being in the hospital and I have been away for 2 weeks for my back (I will talk about that in another blogpost). But I’m back with a lot of inspiration. Now, get a nice cup of tea and get ready for a long and interesting blogpost:

Spring has come! The sun is coming out and we are all exposing our skin. That’s why I thought it would be a good idea to talk about the sun. Last year I had to do a big assignment for my final year of school. I did this project together with two of my friends. In this we talked about sunscreen and why the sun can also be bad for you. I would like to tell you a bit about this project.

What does the sun do to your skin?

The sun creates three types of sunrays. UVC rays don’t reach the earth. UVB and UVA rays damages the cells of your skin. When the cells of your skin are damaged there is a change to get skin problems. For example your skin will age too fast or even worse you can get skin cancer. The sun is also good for you. When sunrays hit your skin, some cells of your skin are able to make vitamin D. You need vitamin D for strong bones and tooth.

Your skin helps to protect you against the sun. As a result of the sunrays hitting your skin, a layer of your skin makes pigment. Pigment protects the DNA in your cells from changing. When the DNA changes, you can get problems with your skin.

How does sunscreen protect you against the sun?

To protect against the damaging sun rays, we use sunscreen. The most important ingredient in sunscreen are the filters. There are two types of filters. Physical filters cover the skin and reflect the sunrays on the screen. Chemical filters are absorbed into the skin and they absorb the sunrays. Because chemical filters are in the skin you can be allergic to chemical filters.

When there are more filters in the sunscreen, the factor of the sunscreen is higher. Filters are expensive, so a sunscreen with a high factor is more expensive than a sunscreen with a low factor.

What are the consequences when you don’t protect yourself against the sun?

When you don’t protect your skin against the sun, your skin will turn red. This means your skin gives an inflammatory response, because your skin has been given an overdose of UV rays. When your body is not able to repair the damage, it can create tumours.

You can recognise skin cancer by using the ABCDE-rule. 

Asymmetry: a spot got a point or a crooked bulging.

Border: irregular borders. Normally a birthmark is pretty much round. As soon as the spot gets a different form, something can be wrong.

Color: the color of the birthmark. If this changes (it suddenly gets very dark, red, purple, blackish or different colors in one) it is suspicious.

Diameter: birthmarks who have a bigger diameter than half a centimetre, got to be looked after by a specialist.

Elevation: when a birthmark gets thicker, when it gets bumps or dimples.

When your skin is red and feels burned, it needs good care. You can use after sun to moisturize your skin. When you don’t have after sun and don’t want to go outside with your skin as red as a lobster, mother nature also has some solutions:

* Pat your skin with lemonjuice

* Wet a towel with chamomile thea and pat this on your skin

* You can also smear your burned skin with mashed ripe avocado, this relieves the pain.

* Shredded potato also helps, starch cools the skin

* Lavender oil has an restorative effect.

What are the alternatives to get a tan without using the sun?

There are a few alternatives to get a tan, without using the sun. 

The first alternative is the solarium. A solarium features a number of UV light tubes which work like the sunlight. That’s why the solarium has got a downside: by using the solarium you can get skin cancer, just like going into the sun.

The second alternative is tanning cream, also known as self-tanner. This is a tinted cream. When you don’t apply it the right way, you are able to get brown stains. To avoid the brown stains:

* Remove your hair in advance (at least 12 hours before tanning)

* Scrub your skin so the crème will stay on longer

* When your skin is dry it might be better to use a body lotion beforehand. This way it prevents you from having dry skin flakes and brown spots.

The third alternative  is the spray-tan. This is an machine which spays tinted liquid and looks like a blow-dryer.

The fourth alternative is one you can use on a daily basis without looking crazy. Some people don’t know that food can give you a little bit of colour too. Eat plenty of carrots, they contain much beta-carotene which has an influence on the skin. Also fruit can give you a healthy glow, for example apricots, grapefruit and melon.   

Dare to dream, dare to grow, dare to be.