Dear sun worshippers and bronzed goddesses,
There are some series I really look forward to and Lauren’s Glossies Made Me Do It is one of them.
This link-up takes place the first Friday of every month. The idea? Share what a glossy (magazine) has made you do recently – try a new recipe/product, listen to a song, read a book, start a discussion/think of something new! Lauren blogs at Shooting Stars Mag, and you can read her June Glossies post right here.
You might remember that wearing sunscreen every day – not just when I am poolside, at the beach or watching PC play ball – is one of my 2018 Wellness Wednesday goals. And it is one I have been doing well keeping up with. Yay, team! In fact, for May’s WW post (we link-up on the first Wednesday of each month…join us!), I talked about loving the skin I’m in. This post is more about loving your skin by protecting it. Read on.
My glossy for today’s post is this Parents magazine, May 2018.
Your first question might be ‘why am are YOU getting Parents magazine?’ To which I have to reply, I have no clue. It just keeps showing up. True, I am still a parent. And will be for life. But Parents generally features, well, you know…younger mommies. With articles about younger children and potty training, and diaper rash, and tantrums. Since I am receiving it for free (I hope), I file the issues in the basket next to our downstairs toilet. For a little light reading. And that’s when I came across this article.
Save the Skin You’re In
Today I am sharing tips from “Protect Your Skin From Mom Life” by Kate Sandoval Box. Not sure what originally caught my eye about this article. Maybe I had my WW sunscreen goal in the back of my mind. Or my WW goal of having a dermatological full-body scan of my skin’s many sun spots. They are so numerous and close together, that I am beginning to look like I have a year-round tan. In a kind of polka-dotty, blotchy way.
Here’s what I learned from Ms. Box’s wise words.
- SPF is a must on vacay. Truly a must for everyday. But for summer vacations, we used to just pack up the bottle of sunscreen we had laying around at home. About a year ago, I started looking for expiration dates and oh, my gravy! We were using sunscreen purchased for vacations taken so long ago that our trip photos had to be developed from rolls of film. From back in the day when there was only one SPF number. Check those expiration dates, girls!!
- Spending endless hours in the sun isn’t healthy. Did you know it only takes 10 minutes to incur sun damage. Heck, I can’t unlock my car that fast in the Walmart parking lot. Dad gum it. I love to be in the sun. Comes from all those teenage years laying out in the backyard slathered with baby oil and iodine, reading Seventeen magazine. My sister couldn’t sit (lie) still as long as I could. And you can sure tell by looking at the difference in our skin now. Oh, why wasn’t I more ADHD and less ADD back then?
- Sunscreen helps prevent skin cancer (and wrinkles). People tend to miss 10% of their face when they apply sunscreen. So apply it twice! And give special attention to your eye area, carefully, of course. That is an often missed spot. While your face is your most exposed body part, scalp, neck, chest and hands are right up there.
- Check out that suspicious (those suspicious, in my case) moles. Calling today.
- UV light can find you even in the shade. It can radiate off of water, shiny surfaces like slides and even your cell phone screen. L’Oréal is developing a sensor that can be worn on the fingernail to monitor UV levels and exposure. It will be readily available next year.
My Thoughts
Kind of scary, huh? Wish I could take back the hours of laying out I did as a teen and young mom. Makes me want to start swimming my laps in the dark. Which could be more considerate of those who have to see me in a bathing suit anyway.
Here are a few things I am doing these days to protect my skin:
- Wearing a hat. Not 24/7, but poolside at least. And sometimes even out and about when I know there will be limited shade. Wine fests. Ball games. Love this hat from Dress Barn. Be sure to put hats on the little ones, too! Love the message on this one! Girls, this one is under $5. Order today!
- Trying moisturizer and foundation with SPF.
- Using a self-tanner like Roldan and Fields. My friend Gail reviewed a new gradual self-tanning product by Dove on her blog, Is This Mutton? Picking some up today. Have used this one with success. Self-tanners have come a long way since the days of Coppertone. My dad applied some of that on us and liked to have never gotten the orange color to wear off his hands. Or our legs!!
- Buying (and wearing) a swim shirt like this one from Jantzen or this one from Land’s End. I like the color blocking of this shirt from Body Glove because it would go with any swim suit.
I swam yesterday without my swim shirt.
Need to pull it out and put it front and center by my goggles and flippers so I remember to put it on. See what I mean about swimming in the dark?
Your Turn
What do you do to save the skin your’re in? Were you a sun worshipper as a teen, or maybe you still are? But what steps are you taking to do so safely? Won’t you share in a comment below so we can all benefit!
Heading out to the grocery store this afternoon. But first making that call for a dermatology appointment. Then picking up my packet for tomorrow’s 5K. What do you have going on this first weekend in June? Feels like summer is here!
Hugs and kisses,
ShootingStarsMag
Thanks so much for linking up! There have been a lot of great articles lately about sunscreen, and it’s fantastic, because I get ideas of ones that I should try. I got a bit burnt Monday and I was wearing sunscreen! I need to try and avoid that for the rest of the summer now – it’s not fun! I should really get a sun hat. 🙂
-Lauren
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Start taking good care of your skin now, lady bug, so you won’t wind up like me with saggy, baggy skin that has no elasticity and is covered with sun spots. Wish I had worn a hat at the beach!!! Thanks for having such fun series to link up to.
Dara
I have a lot of fear about the sun and skin cancer due to some bad burns I’ve had! I usually stay in the shade while my kids swim at the pool!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Good for YOU!! I have had some bad burns as a teen but one in particular where I got the chills, stomach issues, blisters from the terrible sunburn after a day at the lake. I was really sick. Wish I had worn a hat all those trips to the beach in Panama.
Gail
I’m honored to get a mention! Thank you dear Leslie. I make sure I use an SPF every day from spring onwards, but I don’t bother in winter. As you know, it rains a lot in the UK and when it is sunny in winter, you’d need to be out in it for a long time before damage happens. But I wish I’d been more sensible when I was young. I have quite a lot of sun damage. Just have to live with it!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
My pleasure to mention your article about the Dove product. I looked at the commissary and couldn’t find it. Will be looking at Walmart on Monday. Need to get some color on these pale legs before the wedding. I have sun damage everywhere. Have lost so much elasticity in my skin that I look like the saggy, baggy elephant!
Debs
My husband has vitiligo so we are very careful in this household about suncream. He also has a hat by every door in the house so no matter which one he walks through, there’s a hat to put on! I do remember in my teen years laying out in the sun with coconut oil all over me to get that ‘perfect tan’ – oh my goodness, if I’d known then what I know now!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Hind sight is 20-20, isn’t it? Your coconut oil probably smelled better than my baby oil! I am trying hard to wear a hat poolside, and have really upped my game on using sunscreen. But so much damage has been done.
Jodie
I do regret all of the time and energy I spent in the sun, but it was what everyone did!! At least I’m so much better now, and I embrace my pale skin even when other’s are using sunless tanning!!!
I know what you mean about getting Parents magazine. For awhile we were getting Golf magazine–who knows why?? It was hilarious!!!
XOXO
Jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Golf magazine would really be stretch over here!!! Ha. We do have clubs but I have never been on a proper golf course other than to cheer my daughter when she was a member of the high school golf club. I have my mom’s clubs which are little more than wooden clubs since she played before the invention of fire!
Laura
Oh my! I didn’t know people can miss 10% of their face when they apply! That’s a lot! We really try to be diligent with sunscreen, especially because our daughters are so fair skinned. Hopefully we can teach them life skills! I used to not appreciate my pale skin and tanned for dances in high school, I just hope I didn’t do too much damage!
Amy Johnson
Great skin care tips! I use to be s sun worshipper, now I regret it. I use sun hats and suntan lotion now.