Wearing sunscreen in winter is crucial

Yes, you’ve read it right: When out and about, applying sunscreen in winter is as important to protect your skin from premature ageing. Even though it might be darker or more gloomy during the colder winter seasons, the sunrays literally never take a day off. Ultraviolet UV rays are responsible to break down your skin cells faster when exposed to the sun, even during cloudy weather during the summer.

Sunscreen can prevent different skin issues

Premature ageing of your skin is of course visibly on the top list of the visible signs of ageing. It breaks down all the delicious and juicy collagen in your skin which is there to keep it subtle and dewy. Wrinkles form faster, hyperpigmentation and age spots become an issue and of course skin cancer.
Due to the compromised ozone layer that protects our earth from radiation, you will be even more sensitive to prolonged unprotected exposure when out for longer.

When on winter holidays, or living in the mountains, snow can even accelerate this process due to the light reflection which is why skiers and snowboarders constantly reapply their sunscreen when sliding down the mountains.

How to apply SPF correctly

Regardless of your skin’s preference, mineral or chemical sunscreens, tinted or not. They all should have one thing in common: Broad-Spectrum protection.
This means protecting against UVA and UVB rays and should provide you with at least SPF30. This will ensure to have the minimum protection when applied topically to your skin. And no, foundations or moisturisers that include sunscreen don’t deliver the same protection as a properly applied layer or regular SPF.

apply sunscreen to all exposed skin, which would include your lips, ears, hands and neck
use it at least 20 minutes before heading outside
reapply at least every two hours
make sure to double-cleanse at night to ensure the thorough removal of leftover product that might be stuck in your pores, this helps especially when you deal with acne-prone skin