May is Skin Cancer Prevention and Detection Month, and the fact is skin cancer is a growing problem and almost 100 percent avoidable if proper precautions are taken.

One in five Americans will develop skin cancer in the course of a lifetime,  according to the Skin Cancer Foundation. Over the past 30 years, more Americans have had skin cancer than all other types of cancer combined.

The Skin Cancer Foundation has always recommended using a sun-screen as one important part of a complete sun protection regimen. But Charley Richards, founder of
Melbourne-based Absolutely Natural Luxurious Skincare warns that most people don’t know how to apply sun care and other lotions and what they don’t know can hurt them in the form of a bad sunburn.

A Brief Lesson in Anatomy

The top layer of your skin is called the epidermis and it is only about as thick as a sheet of paper. If you rub your sun care too quickly into the skin, it can penetrate into the dermis and leave you with a lot less protection than you think you have. “We have dozens of our guests at our resorts around the world come to us daily and lament that they thought they were adequately protected but still got sun burned. Incorrect application is one of the culprits.”

How to Apply Correctly

”Instead of rubbing product quickly into the skin, proper application involves ‘dabbing’ and ‘laying’ …. my ultra scientific terms! You see, different areas of your body are affected differently when exposed to UV,” said Richards.

When to “Dab” In simple terms, anywhere the skin is close to the bone it is sun sensitive and you should “dab” a maximum sunscreen on those areas … nose, cheeks, décolletage for women, feet, bald heads etc.

When to “Lay” The rest of your body is not as sensitive and you can “lay” a moderate sunscreen. Just take the product and smooth over the skin; you don’t have to apply thickly.

Then wait 60 seconds before massaging the product the rest of the way into the skin. That way you have the full benefit of the SPF without rubbing away your protection.

“A recent study in Australia proved what I have been preaching for years is the real deal.” One hundred people were asked to apply an SPF 15 on their arms and an immediate spectrograph reading was taken after application. The average SPF left rated at an SPF 3. More than 30 people registered no SPF and the main reason for this phenomenal fact was improper application.

Absolutely Natural has been marketing their product for 20 years in the harshest of environments, mostly at tropical resort hotels.  For more information go to the company website, Absolutely-natural.com.

Absolutely Natural sunscreens:

  • are a natural titanium and zinc blend
  • are never tested on animals
  • are chemical-free
  • never contain any animal byproducts
  • biodegrade more easily than typical, chemical sunscreens
  • contain no nano-particles
  • are gentle on the environment

 

More tips available at: aad.org/skin-conditions/skin-health-tips/dermatologists-top-tips/dermatologists-top-tips