Wellness Tuesday Tips: Sunscreen
By Cathy Smith
Hey everybody, its sunscreen season!
All year we wait for summer to arrive, counting the days. Sun on the skin, it wakes up the playful kid in me. Jumping into pools, floating rivers, the smell of sunscreen and dirt mixed together is total happiness. Growing up, I used baby oil and iodine to get a deep tan, not understanding how damaging it was to my skin. Now a serious sunscreen advocate, I use the white stuff. You know, zinc oxide? It’s the one you want, dermatologists would agree!
The safest and most effective sunscreen is the physical barrier kind found in products with zinc oxide and titanium dioxide. Minerals sit on the skin surface causing UVA/UVB rays to bounce off, as opposed to chemical SPF that absorb the sun’s aging and burning rays. Minerals do not enter the bloodstream, giving a sleeve of protection you can count on. Ingredients such as oxybenzone, avobenzone, octisalate, homosalate, and octinoxate circulate through the blood. Not so good.
Now, which one do you choose? Ask a helpful staff member and they will light the path for you to healthier sun-exposed skin. The Boise Co-op offers a wide selection of high-quality SPF for daily, facial and sports, including 40-minute and 80-minute water resistant formulas.There are even a few tinted sunscreens available, excellent for evening out skin tones. Nice! Aloe gels with soothing and highly anti-inflammatory properties, great for sunburns, and bug resistant sprays can also be found in the same area.
Check out our photo guide and follow useful links to learn more about protecting your skin.
Badger Healthy Body Care Sunscreen Safety in The News
Have a deliciously fun time playing in the warm sunshine. Relax in the shade.
“Ô, Sunlight! The most precious gold to be found on Earth.”
― Roman Payne