Sun Sense

Protecting your skin could be the key to a fresher face and long-term health – but not all sunscreens are made equal. Hilary Simmons delves into the physical versus chemical sunscreen debate, the dilemma of protecting your skin from the sun while maintaining adequate levels of vitamin D, and whether you really need to wear sunscreen every single day – even in the depths of winter.

- Hilary Simmons

The word ‘sunscreen’ tends to conjure memories of the ‘no hat, no play’ policy at your primary school and being smeared from head to toe in sticky lotion by a family member who never grasped the whole ‘rubbing in’ concept. But being sunsmart is just as important – if not more so – as we age, playing a key role in anti-aging and prevention of skin cancer. And with 85 per cent of people incorrectly applying their sunscreen according to Cancer Council Australia, perhaps it’s time to go back to sun safety school.

U, ME AND UV

Poet Dorothea Mackellar’s description of Australia as a ‘sunburnt country’ isn’t just quaint – it’s accurate. Australia has one of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world. More than 2,000 Australians die from skin cancer every year and a staggering two out of three Australians will be diagnosed with skin cancer by the time they are 70.

It’s the ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun that’s at the heart of the skin cancer problem: every time your skin is damaged by UV, changes occur in the structure and function of your skin cells; similar to land erosion, UV damage undermines until the surface collapses.

So while we may love our quintessential sun-kissed Aussie image, in reality, the best way to protect our skin is with sensible sun protection, particularly when the UV reaches level three or higher. UV levels vary depending on where you live, so download the SunSmart app to check your area on the go.