Umbrella Color Matters

There's an irony in my life that I am trying to reconcile.

I love going to the beach.

I love running outdoors.

I love picnics.

But I hate the sun.

I grew up with a lot of freckles on my face. While some find them cute and like having them, I don't. I spent years finding the best sunblock and doing research on the best way to completely eradicate them.

With that, I also own a handful of umbrellas that I always use whenever I need to go out of the office during lunch time. I am currently using my white Smiggle umbrella like the one below. 

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Summer is here and I recently noticed that I had to squint my eyes even under the shade of the umbrella. That never happened with my old navy blue one.  This got me to do a little research. Do the colors of our umbrella matter as far as sun protection goes?

Here is what Prevention.com has to say following a study done by the Emory University School of Medicine.

Researchers evaluated the abilities of 23 different umbrellas at blocking UV radiation, and found that all of the umbrellas blocked at least 77% of damaging rays. 

Another thing: When you do bust out the umbrella on the next nice day, you might want to opt for a black one. While all the umbrellas in the study offered protection, black models fared the best, intercepting at least 90% of the sun’s rays. “If you wear a dark-colored shirt, for instance, you get hotter because the color absorbs more UV rays,” say Dr. McMichael and Dr. Chen. “Black umbrellas, too, absorb more of the sun’s energy, so less of it is able to seep through the fabric to your skin.”

This makes sense. Looks like I am going to save this Smiggle umbrella for the rainy days bring out the darker ones for summer. You should too!

Have a great summer, everyone!

 

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Mustela: Very High Protection Sun Lotion

This year has been a year of fulfilled dreams and answered prayers. One of my faith goals for Troy last year was for him to be able to play soccer (Read about it here).  With much prayer and faith, Troy is now part of their school's soccer varsity team and trains 3 times a week. While i love that he's very active and so much into the sport, I have been a little concerned about his skin.  His skin seems to be getting darker by the day. As with most six-year old boys, Troy does not like to put sun protection. I've tried giving him various sunblocks but he either complains that it does not smell nice or that it's too sticky.

A few weeks ago, I was invited to the launch of Mustela's Sun Care line, among other things. The sun protection line was reformulated to better fight against dangerous UVA and UVB rays while enhancing the preservation of the skin's wealth of stem cells that are still present in our kids' skin.

Mustela's Sun Protection Range

So when I got home, i immediately asked Troy to try it. I was silently praying that he would like it. And he did!   These days, Troy keeps a tube of the Sun Protection cream in his bag. He puts it on himself each time he changes for soccer training. He has also agreed to use it during recess when he plays with his friends in the playground.

I like that Mustela's Sun Protection cream for the face come with an easy pump. This allows for my son to use just enough instead of squeezing the entire content out. I also like how the body lotion is in spray form so it's quick and fun for the kids to apply. I just have to keep reminding him to check where the nozzle is pointed before spraying to avoid spraying his eyes.

I will end with some tidbits about Sun Protection that i learned during the recent Mustela event. I think it's good to always be armed with knowledge.

• SPF (Sun Protection Factor) is a measure of UVB protection and is the amount of light it takes to induce redness after sun exposure. Example: SPF 15 - if it takes 10 minutes of noontime sun for you to develop a sunburn, then an SPF 15 will give you 15 x protection or 150 minutes total. So it's not true that SPF 15 means 15 minutes of sun protection while SPF 60 minutes an hour.
• The sun's peak hours is from 10am to 4pm
• The recommended thickness of sunscreen application is 2mg/cm2. Most people apply less than that. 
• Frequent application is more important than just choosing one with higher SPF

You can check out the Mustela products available in the Philippines by visiting their website or going to their Facebook Page, https://www.facebook.com/MustelaPhilippines.
 

Contact +639178959988 to find the Mustela store nearest you!

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