Sun care products: how to choose and apply them

Sun care products are among the most important cosmetics of the summer season and a key part of your holiday beauty case!

As the weather gets warmer we increasingly expose our skin to the sun, spending lots of time at the beach, in the mountains and by the pool.

In all of these settings it is imperative to take close care of the skin on our faces and bodies.

The sun has strong health benefits for our bones and helps improve our mood but it can also potentially accelerate skin ageing.

Using the right sun care products for your skin type is essential not only for avoiding the premature formation of wrinkles and dark blemishes, but also for preventing permanent damage to your skin.

The skin is not the only part of our body that deserves extra care and attention during the summer.

Our hair is also exposed to particular forms of environmental stress, necessitating the use of specific products to maintain its beauty during the holidays.

Salt, the wind and the sun are highly aggressive environmental factors that risk making our hair frizzy and unmanageable, particularly if it is curly.

Keep reading this post to:

• discover why it is important to always apply sun protection;
• understand the difference between UVA and UVB rays;
• find out everything there is to know about the correct application of sun creams.

Until a few years ago sun protection wasn’t regarded as an important issue when sunbathing: on the contrary, people preferred to spend hours at the beach without using any specific products in the belief that they would change colour more quickly and develop more intense and longer-lasting tans.

This is one of biggest urban myths when it comes to sun protection and one that is finally giving way to more informed and responsible tanning practices.

As well as protecting the skin from the aggressive action of solar rays, sun protection also makes our suntans more even, more golden and longer lasting.

Thanks to sun care products you can keep your skin hydrated and protected in the sun, preventing it from drying out too much, blotching and peeling.

In this way your tan will last much longer, also after you’ve got back from your holidays, because it will be the result of a gradual process of activating the melanin in the skin, which will have the right amount of time to put up its protective barrier.

Not all of the sun’s UV rays are the same.

You will have noticed how the packaging of sun care products always refers to UVA and UVB rays.

The difference between these two types of solar rays lies in the way they arrive on Earth from the sun and the degree to which they are filtered or not by environmental barriers.

Let’s start with UVA rays, which are present all year round, regardless of the season.

These rays are not filtered by the atmosphere or the clouds and so it is important to pay particular attention to them because they can be very harmful.

Although they are not directly responsible for our tans, UVA rays are able to penetrate the skin more deeply and reach its deepest layers, triggering strong oxidative processes.

Their effect on tans is limited but they can cause skin diseases that can also be very serious.

UVB rays are responsible for activating the melanin that causes our skin to tan.

They are filtered by the atmosphere and the clouds and this is why they become stronger and more dangerous during the summer.

UVB rays are also responsible for burns and redness, hence why it so important to protect our skin properly when at the beach, by the pool or in the mountains.

The new formulas of sun creams are designed to provide overall protection from UVA and UVB rays but pay attention to the label!

The SPF refers only to UVB rays.

The efficacy of your sunscreen product greatly depends on the way you apply it during the day.

Firstly, use the right quantity of the sunscreen product for the area you wish to protect.

The recommended amount for an optimum barrier effect is 2 mg per square centimetre of skin, which corresponds to about 4-6 grams for the face and about 30 grams for the body.

Make sure you distribute it evenly all over your body.

Some areas of the body are all too often forgotten, that is until they turn red or get burned.

An example? The ears and the feet.

It is also important to put sunscreen on at the right time because sun cream isn’t effective immediately. For greater safety, apply your sun care products 15-30 minutes before you go in the sun, remembering to reapply the product every 2 hours or so and after every swim in the sea or the pool.

Water, sweat and rubbing with a towel are all factors that reduce the efficacy of sun care products: applying them several times a day is the only guarantee against burns.

Protect your curly hair at the beach or by the pool with the specific I Love Riccio treatments designed to safeguard the health and beauty of your hair from the sun, salt and wind.

The I Love Riccio sun protection kit consists of two products specifically designed for curly hair

Firstly, take care of your hair in the sun with Curl Elisir Sun Oil, a blend of macadamia, argan and jojoba oils designed to prevent the damage caused by the sun and remove harmful chlorine and salt residues.

After your day at the beach or by the pool wash your hair with our ultra-delicate protective and hydrating Sun Defence shampoo based on the same blend of fine oils as the protective spray. For defined and super-bouncy curls.

The final touch for super-soft, nourished and full-bodied hair all summer?

Our pure coconut oil, hydrating and enhancing.

You can use it on your body and hair for a lasting tan and protected locks that are nourished deep down.

It has a restorative and intense hydrating action on hair, making it an excellent mask to use before shampooing after a day on the beach or at the pool, or a treatment to use on lengths and ends.