PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT - I am old enough that sunscreen was not a big "thing" when I was a kid or even young adult. PLEASE listen to me in that everyone, regardless of skin tone or colour should be protecting their skin in the sun. Many of you who have not seen me in years will discover that I now sport a myriad of scars from having to remove spots or areas that have come dangerously close to becoming a problem.

I am no longer a fresh faced smoothed skinned young witch. I am crossing that line into being the scarred old crone. Being okay with my scars, however, does not mean that I want more or to continue to ignore the damage caused by too much sun.

As a child, I was burned very very badly many times due to the sunscreen options being in their early stages. I simply did not have the options available that we have now and the education around the danger of the exposure was also not as developed and communicated to the public as it is now.

Over the last several years, I have seen so many excellent sun screen products come out as well as many lines of clothing offer fabrics with built in sun protection for those who engage in outdoor athletics. That leopard dress I recently purchased from Lilly Pulitzer is made from a lightweight and machine washable UPF 50+ ChillyLilly® fabric that offers a cool touch, moisture wicking, and sun protection. (Ultraviolet Protection Factor (UPF) indicates how much UV radiation (both UVB and UVA) a fabric allows to reach your skin. For example, a UPF 50 fabric blocks 98 percent of the sun's rays and allows two percent (1/50th) to penetrate, thus reducing your exposure risk significantly.)

Things I did not do that either I was unable to do as the technology and options simply did not exist OR because I was ignorant and this was not a concern in my later 30s and early 40s that I do now:

1. I wear sunscreen every day. Period. Regardless of the season. If it is winter and I am bundled up then I usually just apply it to my face and décolletage if it is exposed. If it is summer, I wear it on anywhere that will be exposed if I am going outside. I apply before I leave the house and carry it with me for reapplication. You can often find travel size products to pop in your purse or backpack. I keep it in my car as well.

2. Do not forget to include your scalp and the tips of your ears. I keep a spray mist (Supergoop (RE)Setting Mist SPF 40) with me and spray it on my head and refresh my face with it often.

3. If you have some event where you want to avoid spraying on your head/hair then consider a hat with SPF protect. I have a ridiculous number of ball caps to go with all my summer out and about outfits. Curl your lip all you want at me for looking like a soccer mom with my ball cap and not an edgy Satanist, I am protecting my scalp. They also have fancier hats for more dressy occasions. I have a few from a company called Wallaroo that makes hats for men and women in UPF 50 and UPF 30. They have summer hats and winter hats, fedoras, etc. My “go to” summer fancy hat is a lovely dark taupe straw with a black silk band that has little taupe polka dots on the band. The wide brim shields my neck and face and best of all? It is packable!!!!

4. REGULAR SKIN CHECKS with a good dermatologist. I started seeing a dermatologist when my father started to have issues. He grew up in Southern California before sunscreen existed. He worked outdoors and played football and baseball  into college. He was in the sun constantly and is now dealing with that damage. I started regular skin checks about ten years ago, and had a few abnormal spots attended to. Due to my current situation, I am now on a full body check every three months cycle for the foreseeable future as one mole I have had since childhood on my arm turned bad. That will explain the wicked scar up my arm the next time you see me.

5. Limit sun exposure. Does this mean you HAVE to become a Vampire? (Hah. See what I did there?) It does not mean you are never able to go out in the sun again BUT consider how and when you do. I spent two weeks in Hawaii, enjoyed the beaches, sun & surf, hiked a volcano, and had an absolutely lovely time and didn’t get any sunburn. The exposure risk of burn and damage is usually higher between 10 in the morning and 4 in the afternoon. If I am going on a road trip drive, I always apply sunscreen but keep my sunroof closed between those hours. When it’s open before or after, I still have a ball cap, sunscreen, etc. I reapply sunscreen when I stop for petrol or to use the restroom.

I try to do my outdoorsy stuff before 10 or later in the day after 4. You can still enjoy sitting by the pool and reading a book under a huge umbrella after 4. I try to do the indoorsy things like wander a museum or shops, have a lovely long lunch, nap, spa treatments, etc during those 10-4 hours to stay out of the sun. For an example, on a little trip last year, I would get up around 0700 and grab a coffee and sit by the pool under an umbrella and read (with full sunscreen). Around 9ish I’d head inside for a bite of breakfast, change and go out to do some shopping or indoor tour thing. Then lunch, dinner, etc. After dinner I’d pop back down to the pool with my book and “moon bathe” as the sun set. In Savannah, I arranged our carriage tours and graveyard tours for after 6pm. It’s cooler anyway and less sun exposure.

Those of you who are younger have the technology and options to really protect yourself now that I never had. I highly encourage you to do some research into this and make some adjustments to your daily activities to start protecting yourself for later. Think of it as an investment. And if you have children, please help them by protecting them now and teaching them how important it is. I know my own mom gets sad sometimes and wishes she could have done better and I have to remind her that she had no clue about 99% of this and she had few options other than SPF 8 generic Coppertone and white zinc for my cheeks, which she dutifully insisted I apply but there is so much more/better now.

6. Both my Father and I are taking a supplement from our dermatologist (we have the same one so they have a good solid history of us) that helps protect from free radical damage. I take one at night, one in the morning, and if I must be outside for a long period of time during the day, I take one before that sun exposure.

I wanted to share this advice as I find myself often wishing I'd been able to protect myself better when I was younger or perhaps knew what I knew now.

From the EPA:

"The sun sends energy to Earth in a few different ways: visible light that you can see, infrared radiation that you feel as heat, and rays of UV radiation that you can’t see or feel. Fortunately, the Earth’s atmosphere protects us from most UV radiation. While we need some exposure to sunlight to help our bodies make vitamin D, too much UV is dangerous.

There are three types of UV rays:

Ultraviolet A rays (UVA)

* The atmosphere does little to shield these rays—most UVA radiation reaches Earth’s surface.

* UVA rays cause skin aging and eye damage, and can lower your body’s ability to fight off illness. UVA rays also contribute to the risk of skin cancer.

Ultraviolet B rays (UVB)

* The Earth’s atmosphere shields us from most UVB rays—the amount of UVB rays that reach the Earth’s surface depends on latitude, altitude, time of year and other factors.

* UVB rays cause sunburns, skin cancer, skin aging, and snow blindness (a sunburn to your cornea that causes a temporary loss of vision) and can lower your body’s ability to fight illness.

Ultraviolet C rays (UVC)

* UVC rays do not reach the Earth’s surface because they are completely absorbed by the atmosphere.

* Harmful effects from UVC rays are minimal.

The UV radiation that reaches the Earth’s surface is mostly UVA and some UVB. Almost half the daytime total of the more harmful UVB radiation is received between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Even on a cloudy day, you can be sunburned by UVB radiation.

Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States. While everyone should protect themselves against UV radiation, it is particularly important to protect children. Most of an average person's UV exposure from the sun occurs before the age of 18. Too much UV exposure or frequent sunburns, particularly during childhood, can make developing skin cancer more likely.”