It’s a sad fact but did you know that 80% of premature skin ageing is due to sun exposure? We all love a tan (you know I certainly do) but prevention is better than cure so please, please, PLEASE, start protecting your skin… I wish I could tell my younger self this as I was absolutely terrible at applying SPF until around 4 years ago. That my friends is too late, so jump on this SPF thing ASAP.
Skincare experts recommend a daily SPF, even in our dreary english winter, but it’s super vital with the impending summer months / weekends away / festivals / more outdoor activities and beach holidays to be slapping on some sun protection. Wow I sound like my mum. I will do a post soon about some of my favourite different sun care products and tanning things but first up I want to show you a couple of new things that have hit my radar.
Anthelios is the brilliant sun protection / SPF range from french skincare brand La Roche Posay. There is a great range of sun care solutions/products to choose from, for all skin types and created like skincare to comfort and treat your skin as well as protect it from sun damage. Recently they have just re-formulated the Anthelios SPF50 face fluid* so it is EVEN lighter and more invisible in texture. This is my first time actually trying this product at it’s so easy to apply and is great on my combination/oily skin. I am slightly fearful of plying my skin with layers of skincare / serums / makeup and THEN a slathering of SPF but this is lighter than most serums and has a watery fluid texture that absorbs into the skin in a flash with no residue. This kind of product is exactly what you need if you find usual SPF creams break you out and make you feel really oily. No white chalky finish either YAY! It gives both UVA/UVB protection and costs £16.50 for this 50ml bottle which I think is very reasonable. (similar textures and SPF’s I have tried which I can liken to this is Cane+Austin SPF30 [£32] , Chantecaille Primer SPF50 [£75!]
LRP have also launched what I think is a bit of a game-changer in the sun care world : SPF50 AND makeup combined. The compact-cream SPF50+* is skin-perfecting makeup that gives light coverage, smoothes the skin and leaves the skin semi-matte. This is currently just available in 2 shades so hopefully they will increase this to more. I have the darker of the two shades [02 Beige Gold] which is a little warm for my skin tone currently but will be great for when I get my summer tan. The coverage is not like a full-on foundation, which is good; who wants to wear a full face of makeup in the sun? (errrr all the gals in Ibiza apparently).. but this is more like a tint. For me, I like to be bare-faced and makeup free when I am *sunning professionally* (beach / pools etc) but this is absolutely the ONE when it comes to sight-seeing, walking about in London in the sun and festival fun. Please remember also that although this is a great, high protection product, you will need to remember to top it up every few hours. It has a handy sponge within the compact that won’t make this too cumbersome.