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We all know someone (maybe even ourselves) who have had suspicious lesions cut off or out of their skin. Benny-Boo had a suspicious mole that had been on his head semi-hidden in his hair since I first met him (and before). His ginger-ish DNA with that fair skin and those beautiful blue eyes makes him and the sun not the best of friends. When we went to the dermatologist, they biopsied it and low and behold it came back suspicious. Further cutting was required, and stitches. With this quarantine hair life I can barely see his face, much less the scar left behind, but they did a good job with the excision. Ben also religiously used a scar gel from IMAGE Skincare to support the healing of his scar. He'll tell you more about that in a future blog. !!WARNING Graphic Photos Below!!
Sunblock is so important throughout our entire life and can help prevent unnecessary situations (and scars) like this from entering our lives. Are all sunblocks equal though? Is a higher number beside that SPF better? No to both.
Types of Sun “Protection”:
There are physical blocks, chemical screens, and some things in between.
- Physical blocks include Zinc and/or Titanium Dioxide. They literally deflect the suns rays and, in my opinion, are the only true form of protection. They’re reef friendly and are natural minerals. Why do you think they put zinc in diaper rash creams? Safe and also anti inflammatory.
- Chemical screens are thought to absorb the rays and neutralize them but what often occurs is the rays get trapped in the skin and lead to free radicals, inflammation, and heat. Have Rosacea or Melasma? Stay away from this heat cultivating approach to sun “protection”. And... who wants to put chemicals on their skin anyways when there are natural alternatives? These chemicals can damage/destroy our reefs and can cause other health concerns. I’ll pass!
- The in between is a combination of both. These aren’t necessarily bad depending on the “chemical” used. Sometimes the SPF can be physical based with what we call UV Boosters that are chemicals that aid the Zinc and/or Titanium Dioxide. Just stay away from the benzones like Avobenzone or Oxybenzone. These aids can help achieve a higher protection factor but do higher numbers mean a better product?
SPF and their numbers attached to them:
SPF 100 has to be the best right? It blocks all the rays I’m sure? Not necessarily. Most of that is marketing. An SPF that high you’ll likely find so full of chemicals, it’d be better used as an insect repellant. Any professional SPF will probably cap out at 50. I always recommend a Physical SPF of 30-50 for face and body. A zinc based SPF 30 will deflect around 95% of the sun’s rays which is phenomenal (just don’t forget the ears).
We carry a Moisturizer/SPF for every skin type and are offering 15% Off of all of them for the month of May. If you order from our website this month, ALL orders are shipped Free. Please let us know if you have any questions about choosing the right Sun Protection for you and your family.
Xoxo
-Blake
