The return of the sun: how to prepare and protect your skin

1. Deeply moisturise the skin

As the body’s main constituent, water is a critical element in protecting against the dangers posed by the sun. This is particularly true of the skin since poor hydration makes the epidermis porous and fragile. It’s therefore vital to keep your skin well-moisturised in order to reduce the threat of damage from UV rays!

In practice: There are a number of ways of hydrating the skin, the first being the topical use of moisturising creams. Next, it’s important to deeply hydrate cutaneous tissue by drinking enough water. Have you tried SuperWater? Highly popular with sportspeople, this alkaline water has been shown to have a number of positive effects on vitality and well-being. For thorough hydration of the skin, there are also specific nutricosmetics such as the supplement Skin Ceramides. As its name suggests, it provides ceramides – essential components of the skin’s hydrolipidic barrier – which help the skin retain water, and thus keep it healthy and well-hydrated!

2. Stock up on antioxidants

If hydrating the skin is essential in order to protect against external aggression, diet also has a key role to play. Indeed, it’s possible to protect the body’s cells by ingesting natural antioxidants. These compounds are able to combat the harmful effects of highly-reactive oxygen species called free radicals, production of which is stimulated by exposure to UV rays. When they build up in the body, free radicals cause considerable damage and contribute to premature ageing. In skin cells, free radical accumulation promotes, in particular, the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.

In practice: Natural antioxidants therefore offer significant benefits for getting the skin sun-ready. They are as valuable for protecting the skin against free radical attack as they are for preventing premature ageing of the skin. Their benefits can be obtained by eating certain everyday foods, as well as by taking nutritional supplements at standardised doses. Among the antioxidant supplements available are powerful, synergistic formulations such as Carottol™. This provides a concentrate of natural antioxidants including beta-carotene from carrots, lycopene from tomatoes, lutein from corn, zeaxanthin from pumpkin and astaxanthin from prawns.

3. Take advantage of omega-3

Also useful in preparing the skin for the sun are other natural compounds such as omega-3 fatty acids! While you’re probably aware of their benefits for cardiovascular health, those for the skin are less well-known. Yet many studies have shown that omega-3 helps protect and hydrate the skin. So a course of omega-3 supplements could prove very beneficial as summer approaches!

In practice: Omega-3 are essential fatty acids, which means they must be provided by the diet. They are found in abundance in some types of fish, but intake is still inadequate in many cases. That’s the reason for the development in recent years of a number of products fortified with omega-3 as well as omega 3 dietary supplements.