Here comes the sun...do de do de...

So it's summertime up here in the Northern hemisphere and I thought I should talk to you about an issue which I know many already have stressed the importance of, but I wanted to add more. 

I'm a bit of a stickler about sun protection but love the feeling of being tan. I realise it's awful for my skin (no matter how many precautions I take) but summer time for me means being outside; not even laying out but just being out there enjoying sunshine I miss and so rarely get to enjoy over here in England. It's inevitable therefore, simply by being outside that I do develop some kind of tan no matter how much high factor suncream I slap on. I'm fairly pale naturally (Dad's got the skin of a stereotypical Celt) but I tan reasonably easily (Mum's got Southern European ancestory and therefore an olive southern European complexion.) The combination of skin tones leaves me and my siblings with pale skin but olive undertones and lots of dark freckles - I'm not talking freckle tone freckles here, chocolate brown freckles - and skin that tans to the same degree as Mum's. I consider myself fairly lucky in this respect - it has partly owed to the fact that I've never sunburnt. But I also take extremely good care of my skin in the sun all year round. I think this is the crucial part. 

I have friends who are far, far fairer than me and some are as vigilant with taking care of themselves in the sun as they need to be (high factor suncream, loose long sleeves, hats, staying indoors in high sun hours) unfortunately others take far less precautions than they should and I genuinely fear for how they will pay for it later in life. They burn because it's the only way their skin will turn to tan, wearing factors of suncream as low as SPF 8 for lying out all day with only one application. When I slather myself in factor 20 (low in my books) for just a half hour outside they think it's ridiculous. Upon hearing I wear sunscreen on my face everyday one thought it was stupid. And pointed out on a holiday that she'd gotten far darker than our friends because they were 'using factor 30, so how did they expect to tan?' I was shocked. The idea of sun safety didn't seem to occur to here. Being burnt and peeling was just a part of the process. 

My parents have always battered sun safety into me - my Mum would lie out in the sun in holiday for a month wearing only baby oil in her younger days and wanted to make sure none of us took such risks. We never had anything below factor 30 in the house for years and on holiday I remember being dragged out of the pool at hourly intervals to 'be regreased.' We wore hats with neck flaps and pool T-Shirts and were made to nap under an umbrella for a while after lunch to keep us out of the sun when it was at its most dangerous. This need to be careful in the sun still lies prominent in my mind. And though I will end this summer with a tan I will have done it taking as many precautions as I possibly can. 

Six bottles of suncream (the lowest being factor 30, the highest 50+) are joining us on holiday this summer. I've got myself quite a beautiful collection of coverups and am going to spend tomorrow hunting for a hat that will be somewhat more adult but equally as effective as my baseball cap with a flap number. 

So please, this summer don't be stupid in the sun. Take care of your skin and it'll be just as beautiful in 40 years as it is now.