02 Sep Wear Sunscreen

“Ladies and gentlemen, wear sunscreen. If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it.” These are the opening lines of a song called Wear Sunscreen by Baz Lurmann. Have you heard it before? If not, it’s definitely worth peeling away a few minutes to take in the life lessons the song has to offer (not to mention the groovy tune you can bop to while doing so). 

But this song title, and the opening message of the song is more important than many of us acknowledge or act upon. Excessive sun exposure has a pathogenic effect on the development of skin cancer, and as the ozone layer becomes thinner and the sun’s rays become stronger, and if our awareness doesn’t grow with that, excessive skin damage from the sun becomes more of a reality. 

We’ve rounded up four top reasons to protect your largest organ from the negative effects of the sun. 

1. It Dramatically Decreases Your Risk of Developing Skin Cancer

Like a mask drastically decreases your risk of picking up disease, applying sunscreen will give you an unparalleled layer of protection against the sun. Even on overcast days, using lotions with an SPF built in will make a difference. 

2. There Are Eco Sunscreens Easily Available 

Unfortunately, many of the commercial sunscreens available are actually incredibly damaging for the ocean. However, people have cottoned onto this and the array of natural, non-toxic sunscreens now available gives us  little excuse. Faithful to Nature’s selection alone is enough for you to never need to look elsewhere. 

Every single sunscreen on our website meets the non-toxic criteria, and will protect you while simultaneously not harming the planet. But if you find yourself browsing a store shelf and want to ensure you buy right, here are a few pointers to educate yourself in your purchasing decisions. 

a) Always go fragrance-free. Fragrance’ is just a blanket term that masks a many number of toxic ingredient sins. The chemicals from fragrance ingredients will pass through your skin and into your bloodstream, so the general rule is: fragrance-free. 
b) An incredibly common ingredient used in commercial sunscreens is the UV-blocker, Oxybenzone. Research has shown that even a small amount of sunscreen containing oxybenzone is enough to break down coral reefs, causing them to lose their nutrients, turn bleach white and die. These reefs go from being a biodiverse havens to literal ghost towns.

3. You’ll Look Younger For Longer 

Wrinkles, leathery skin, sun spots – these can all be caused by exposure to the sun. Ask any older person to show you the skin on the top of their arm and the skin beneath, and they’ll tell you that there’s a 10-year difference between them, simply because the skin above gets more exposure to the sun on a day-to-day basis. You can radically slow down the effects of aging with a good sunscreen routine.

4. It Prevents Skin Discolouration 

Aside from stopping sunburn, preventing your skin’s premature aging, and decreasing the chance of melanoma developing, it will also help in preventing brown spots and skin pigmentation. 

For us, it’s a no-brainer. Our skin is the beautiful wrapping that keeps our internal everything safe. It breathes, it burns, it hurts and we need to ensure that we look after it, while looking after the earth we live on. But if you can’t take it from us, take it from Baz; Wear Sunscreen.