Tag Archives: aloe vera benefits

It’s really a benefit in the summer to be able to soak up the sun. But are you taking care of your skin properly? This post will probably not contain the same knowledge that you’ve read in other places because when it comes to sun caring for my skin, I like to be as completely natural as possible.

There is quite a controversial debate out there in the world between the relationship between sunscreen and our health and skin cancer. Do the chemicals in the sunscreen really protect us or do they just perpetuate the problem by causing inflammation and adding tons and tons of carcinogenic ingredients to a very absorbent organ, our skin?

I won’t answer this question here but there is a lot of useful scientific research conducted about this topic that I suggest you read into. These articles are published in renowned medical journals and some are available on the internet through some hard searching. How I like to research is go on to the Wikipedia page and then scroll down to the bibliography. There should be some pretty decent links in that bibliography and most of the links direct you to trusted sources to get the full picture.

Soaking Up Those Rays

I love soaking up sun because it is simply the best source of vitamin D for our bodies. Our body absorbs the vitamin better than an oral supplement and vitamin D leads only to great things. Vitamin D can seriously prevent flus and colds, which is why so many people get them in the winter. It can also clear up skin problems, like eczema…you can ask Max on this one!

The general rule of thumb is that when your sun turns the lightest shade of pink, it has absorbed all of the vitamin D it can in that moment. It’s best to cover up after that.

If you want to continue baking in the sun, it’s not a problem but you will need to treat your skin afterwards and if possible, find an organic tanning solution. I’ll go into this in a second.

For more info click here and here.

How To Protect

The absolute best way to protect your skin from the sun is to cover up! That means wear a sun hat, a long sleeve white and breezy top and even a flowy maxi skirt if need be.

Personally, when I need to cover up, I just put my towel over my shoulders and a hat on my head…or I slip on a sun dress and throw a light scarf over my shoulders. This doesn’t make me hot at all. The fabrics I choose for the sun are very light.

Being me, I cannot advocate for the use of store bought sunscreens, nor sunscreens that are even approved by health care professionals.  I am completely against the stuff. I want to protect my skin and why only protect it from the sun and then load it with chemicals every day? This seems hypocritical. I protect it from all things harmful. I am much more careful with my skin care products than even my food!

If you need to put something on, the worst of the best is to go to your natural health food store and purchase a sunscreen there.

Better options are sold only by specialty boutiques or on the internet. When I was in Hawaii, the healing retreat centre I stayed at sold some uber organic stuff with almost nothing in it except the  magic of keeping the suns rays away.  I should have picked some up there. You can also email around to holistic nutritionists to see what they like.

I currently don’t use anything for in-sun protection but if I were to point you in a direction my first direction would be Living Libations. I absolutely trust their products. Naomi really knows the science behind natural skin care products and their reviews are phenomenal. The downside of their products is that they are extremely pricey but when I can afford it, this is the first thing on my wish list!

I will also point you in the direction of the Dr. Mercola product. I love the ingredients he has in his sun screen and he really advocates for the benefits that the sun can bring to your health, so I pretty much trust him on this product. He also has a tanning cream for when you want to get golden but don’t want to absorb the harmful rays.

For protection from the sun, really do your research. Again, I will never advocate for the use of commercial sun screens!

After Sun Healing

Drink tons of water! Your skin’s moisture has just been sucked out and it needs to get back in there! Drinking water is the fastest and most efficient way to hydrate your skin.

Aloe vera is my go to skin product not only for the sun! I use it for my eczema, my cold sores, any bruises or cuts on my body. I use it every morning and night on my face. I use it after I shave. And for the sun? It’s incredibly healing.

If you want to know the science behind Aloe you can watch this video here. Aloe has always been used for healing purposes since ancient times. It’s inside gel has a component that boosts your immune system. The outside rind is no good so throw it away.

I would try not to get a large amount of sun two days in a row. I know that if you are on a beach vacation this is all you will want to do. But can’t you go on a tour on that second day? Or maybe hit the beach in the morning and evening and keep the afternoon for some spa time or something equally as relaxing. Or hit the beach but with a long sleeve top or those products I mentioned above.

I generally will get hit with sun one day and continue to go out in the sun everyday but try to get zero exposure for a week after.

The UVB causes wrinkles and the UVA cancer ( only in large amounts), neither of them are good so it’s important to draw the line and pay attention to benefiting from the sun, and being harmed by the sun. Like I mentioned earlier, when your skin is the lightest shade of pink, you’ve absorbed all the vitamin D. Even if you go out every day to absorb the vitamin D, it’s fine. The point is don’t overdo it…unless you want wrinkles.

If I run every day or every second day, this is a great amount of sun exposure to my body and I feel the benefits of the sun. I also develop a subtle glow on my skin. This is no longer than an hour outside in the pure sun and it’s really sufficient. For the rest of the day I am a little more careful.

Anyways, you get the point. Heal you skin before re-exposing it!

For more information, go back through the post and click on all of those scattered links. They all lead to a pot of gold!

Thanks for reading!

(Read disclaimer here)

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p.s. I guest posted over at Uncommonplace a couple of days ago. Click here to check it out!