With all the holiday talk, I thought I’d give you some ideas on how to keep your sun tan for longer… and in a safe way. In short: hydrate, change your diet with vitamins A, C, D and E, exfoliate, moisturise and use SPF.
Hydrate
Make sure you up your water intake. If you aren’t drinking enough water, your skin will very quickly start to show it.
Change your diet
Get enough vitamins A, C, D and E. Vitamins A, C and E are antioxidants for the skin, so protect your skin from sun damage. Vitamin D is thought to reduce inflammation in the skin, so is important when there is increased sun exposure.
Vitamin A is produced from Beta Carotene, the orangey-red pigment in fruit and veg such as carrots, sweet potatoes, apricots and mangoes.
Vitamin A is also responsible for the production of melanin (the pigment) in your skin, so it acts as an internal sunscreen – although you must still use your sun screen!
If you aren’t sure how to incorporate these vitamins into your diet, you can use supplements, but make sure you start taking them at least a couple of weeks before you go away.
I recommend supplementing with Skinade which, for many reasons really is beauty in a bottle, and adding a vitamin A & D supplement.
Exfoliate
Plan ahead! Before you go, have a full body scrub to get rid of all the dead skin cells!
You still need to exfoliate when you are away but consider using something that is very gentle on the skin, such as a konjac sponge.
Moisturise
Moisturise in the morning and evening. Pay particular attention to the area around your eyes, upper lip and neck as these areas don’t have any oil producing glands, so will dry out very quickly -the skin under the eye is as as thin as an egg shell, so it’s really important it’s well looked after.
Other areas to pay attention to include the knees, elbows, hands and feet.
When you shower, use a shower oil rather than gel and that will help moisturise your skin. Avoid having hot showers as that can also be dehydrating for the skin.
SPF and aloe vera gel
Use a sun cream that is broad spectrum – it protects against UVA and UVB rays. Use between a factor 30 – 50. It may feel like you won’t get a tan doing this but, if you can avoid burning, along with all the other steps you are taking, it will prolong your tan.
Take Aloe Vera Gel with you just in case you do burn. It’s not known as the ‘burns plant’ for nothing!
Slow and steady really does win the race when it comes to preserving your precious sun tan.