During the sunny days, many people hope to tan to have a beautiful tanned complexion. Be careful, however, sunscreen is not enough to protect your skin during exposure to the sun!
Summer is fast approaching and the desire to get some color is starting to emerge. Be careful though: tanning certainly gives you a healthy glow, but it is also dangerous for your skin. Infrared rays, responsible for the sensation of heat, UVA rays, which cause skin aging, and UVB rays, which cause tanning but also sunburn, are very aggressive. This can lead to burns as well as skin cancer. According to Public Health France, this disease is caused in 80% of cases by excessive exposure to the sun.
The solution is therefore often to put on sunscreen to protect yourself while enjoying the sun. It is recommended to choose SPF 50 to avoid taking any risks. But is it really enough? ? Its application is actually not regular enough to benefit from its real protective effect, as explained dermatologist Christophe Bedane to Santé Magazine.
“In ‘real life’, we never put in the required quantity, so we must divide our solar index by two for low indices, or even by four for the highest indices,” estimates the specialist. An index of 50 would therefore fall at least to the level of an index of 25. It is normally advisable to put on sunscreen at least every two hours and to reapply in the event of swimming or heavy sweating, which is rarely applied. .
For the expert, “sun cream is an additional element in the photoprotection system to be put in place for the holidays”. Indeed, if the desire to sunbathe is too strong, you must also cover up well so as not to expose your skin too much and take breaks in the shade regularly. Exposure time must be limited and it is essential to avoid the hottest periods of the day, particularly between 12 p.m. and 4 p.m.
To get a tan, it would be better to opt for self-tanner. It contains dihydroxyacetone or erythrulose, substances that are harmless, but which will allow the upper layer of the skin to have a temporary tanned appearance. “Using self-tanner is much safer than lying in the sun or in a tanning bed,” assured Anjali Mahto, consultant dermatologist at the Cadogan Clinic in London, to Cosmopolitan.
Be careful, however, you should not assume that once you are tanned, you are protected. “Tanning does not protect, it is equivalent to a protection index 4, no more, and it does not prevent the deleterious effects of UV rays on the skin,” recalled Professor Christophe Bedane.
