The beauty product you need to wear. Every day.

BY ZOE FOSTER

Why do you keep saying we need to wear sunscreen every day as adults if we did all the damage when we were kids or sunbaking teenagers? Isn’t it a bit pointless?

– Kerry

Oh, Kerry. You’re so cute when you say things that totally make sense and that I have to disprove vehemently!

Of COURSE you have to wear sunscreen every day as an adult.

Why? First, because sun damage is two-fold. Yes, a lot of it occurs when you’re young, and gaily prancing around the pool or beach in your fluoro two-piece that connect on the sides, BUT! When you expose your skin to UV as an adult it brings out all of that damage you got as a wee little squid growing up in the ‘Strayan sun. I’m talking (typing, to be accurate) about things like sun spots, pigmentation, wrinkles and of course, potentially cancerous cells that have been laying dormant.

I don’t mean to offend, dear Kerry, as we seem to be getting along so well and could potentially play doubles in indoor table tennis one day, but it is both lazy and irresponsible to assume the “damage is already done” and not give a burp about sun protection as an adult.

Also, in our quest against Papa Time and Aunty Acne and other family members causing strife, we use things like AHAs (such as glycolic or lactic acid – which are in a lot of anti-ageing skincare) or BHAs (like salicylic acid – which is in almost all blemish/acne skincare) and retinols, and peels and chemical exfoliation and microdermabrasion and lasers, and all of these things are removing layers of skin, leaving the skin underneath extremely, terrifyingly vulnerable to attacks from the sun. We desperately need good sun protection to keep this new skin safe from new damage, otherwise, why bother?

Kerry, if you make the small effort of wearing a daily moisturiser with broad-spectrum (UVA and UVB) sunscreen from your forehead to your boobs every day, and stay out of direct sun when possible (and slather up all over when not possible), you don’t need to worry about any of this stuff. Promise.

To finish, some great one-step-all-done daily lotions for a dame:

NICE PRICE AND QUITE GREAT, ACTUALLY: Olay Complete Defence SPF 30+ (lightweight and very loveable) Nivea Sun Light Feel Daily Face Veil SPF30+ (bit thicker and will suit those whose skin can handle a bit of glow) and Neutrogena Healthy Defence Daily Moisturiser SPF 30+ (extremely high protection and good for dudes, too)

FOR THE SENSITIVE AMONG US: QV Face Moisturising Day Cream SPF 30+

FOR THE ORGANIC FANS:  Devita Natural Skin Care Daily Solar Protective Moisturiser SPF 30+

JUST LOVELY, REALLY: Alpha-H Daily Essential Moisturiser SPF30+, True Solutions Total Age protector SPF 30+.

MAKE BELIEVE: Jimmy McSnurg’s Facial Muck with SPF700+

Zoe is an author, columnist and porridge fan. She was beauty director of Cosmopolitan, Harper’s BAZAAR and PRIMPED and then collated all the best tips and tricks from her time in these roles for the beauty bible, Amazing Face. She is currently the dating columnist for Cosmopolitan magazine, although her best advice in this arena can probably be found in the dating and relationship guide, Textbook Romance , which she co-wrote with Hamish Blake. Zoe has published three novels, Air Kisses, Playing The Field and The Younger Man, and she rates them among the best novels ever written in the history of the written word. Find more info on her here, or supervise on her daily procrastination here and here.

Please understand that Zoë cannot respond to ALL your questions – but never fear, there are readers that are bound to know the answers, so don’t be afraid to ask – and answer!

Do you wear sunscreen every day? Which is your favourite?