In my family, I am lucky to have not one but two great dermatologists, which are my uncle and my aunt. Since I can remember myself being a student in the same city they’re living (Bucharest), they have always told me about the rule No.1 for healthy youthful skin which is: always protect skin from sun damage by applying regularly a good quality cream with minimum SPF30! And this is regarding all body parts exposed to the sun, not only face and neck.
Here I would like to add an important note: many of you may know, our skin needs direct sunlight (UVB ultraviolet radiation to be precise) to produce vitamin D. Depending on where you live, in what hemisphere and region, it is necessary to spend some time outside without any kind of protection (filters) to allow our skin to do its natural process. For this purpose, studies say it is sufficient to spend 2 times a week 5-30 minutes from 10 am till 3 pm exposing naturally face, arms or/and legs, to receive the quantity we need. The longevity of time you'll need (5-30 minutes) depends mainly on the color of your skin (the deeper tone you have, the longer you shall expose to sunlight) and the time of the day (the sun hits with different intensity at 10 am and at 1 pm).
For a long time, I used only creams from pharmacy companies, brands like La Roche-Posay (www.larocheposay.it), Vichy (www.vichy.it) and Avène (www.avene.it).
However, in the latest years, since I’ve met my current husband and transferred to Lombardy in Italy, we often go to the Ligurian Sea and on Lago Maggiore for short and long vacations, where the sun is active all the year-round. He loves technology and that matters for all the products, including creams. He made me discover and afterward I fell in love with sunscreen creams made by Lancaster (www.lancaster-beauty.com/it) since they have the technology for several filters: UVA, UVB, Visible Light and Infrared! This brand is upper in price (costs around 30€ for 200ml of product), but if you go on the beach of Zanzibar, Seychelles, Maldives and other equatorial places where the sun hits strong all day long, I think this investment is worthy!
Another brand that is considered top for filters is the Heliocare 360° with SPF 50+ with mineral filters for UVA, UVB, HEvis, and IR-A. You can find it in most pharmacies. It is excellent for high altitudes too (like mountains), and it has even higher cost (about 20-25€ for 50ml). Nevertheless, taking into consideration that in the long run, the use of such creams will save you years from early wrinkles and unnecessary Botox injections, this is a completely reasonable investment!
From a medium price range, I like to use creams from accessible brands like Deborah (www.deborahmilano.com/it) and Nuxe (https://it.nuxe.com). However, these two have only filters UVA and UVB. I use them only in the city, where I do not stay a long time under the sun. In days, when I must wear full face makeup, I use underneath foundation as base Nuxe 50 SPF, and in my purse I carry Bioderma “Hydrabio Eau de soin 30 SPF” (www.bioderma.it), which is a lightweight formula in spray with anti-UV mist to use during the day, even on top of the makeup. When I feel the need to hydrate and apply sun protection this formula is perfect because first, it is transparent (not white, as usually are sprays with SPF factors), so it doesn’t ruin the makeup, and second, it is water-based so doesn’t stick or crisp on the skin.
And which are your preferred sunscreen formulas for summer? Let me know in the comment section here below. And if you have any further questions feel free to write to me, I’ll be happy to share with you all I know for best.
Thank you for your support and company, and I hope to see you again here on my Blog!
My best wishes,
Nadiya
MetropolitanMe Blogger