The tan will fade, the damage will stay, FOREVER!

Sun, vitamin d.

Its good for you. Its bad for you. It causes aging. It prevents aging. Sunscreen is bad for you. No wait, it's the most important thing you can wear. OMG is your head spinning like mine?!

So, I'm far from a skincare expert. But I do know, that I spent most of my summers lathered in tanning oil, and winters in a tanning bed for the first 18 years or so of my life. I was anti sunscreen. I vividly remember this little tanning salon in my small town of Prattville, AL that would let you tan for 20 minutes, and then you could knock on the door and they would reset the timer for another 20 minutes.

As a result, by the time I was 25, I had such awful sun damage and freckles- this is me WITH foundation on. (hopefully you can see the severe damage on my forehead) and its all down my chest as well. I never thought about it. Tan was pretty. And I wanted to have a sun kissed glow at any expense. Something about your thirties will make you get serious about your skin care. Maybe its when you start seeing your first lines, or the damage is evident. Regardless, its time. Its past time;) So listen up!!

This is a photo that Huda Beauty shared in one of her blogs about the importance of spf. This is a truck driver, for 20+ years, who had 1/2 of his face exposed to the sun for years, while the other half was shielded from the sun. (Still not SPF, but not getting as harsh direct sunlight as the left side). GASP! I mean, this got me thinking about my chest and my hands. Especially living in FL now.

I have used expensive lasers to chomp away some of this damage (Fraxel and multiple Clear and Brilliant's) And then I found my 2 bff's when it comes to skin care. (Ill save those for a whole other blog post!) So I've come a long way. But still pushed back on sunscreen. Why? Geez, the rebel in me?! haha! IDK. Maybe all the contradictions with skin research and spf? I mean, I put it on before my makeup and lather it on my body before I go out by the pool. Thats enough- right?! WRONG- Judging by my personal experience alone- when my tan faded, I was left with nasty sun damage and sun spots...Clearly the no sun protection thing wasn't cutting it.

So I have seriously stepped up my game. I apply the supergoop unseen sunscreen with SPF 40, on my face as a makeup primer. Literally my favorite primer. The makeup rests beautifully on it, even last week in humid Mexico! And it's literally unseen- unlike many other facial sunscreens. Others left a white chalky mess or make your foundation pill up and look gross. This gives a beautiful flawless prime to your skin AND it's protected. So that's step one. BUT....THIS IS NEWS TO ME!) SPF, depending on they number- only protects you for a set amount of time. For this primer, it's roughly 2 hours. So, I keep this setting spray with me everywhere I go. It's a refreshing mist that sets and easily goes over your makeup, without clogging your pores or disturbing your highlight. And its SPF 50! It was a Godsend on our vacation. I just misted my face every few hours and knew I was doing the best I could to enjoy life without harming my skin. I also didn't go anywhere without my SPF sunnies and "granny visor" as my hubby likes to call it-ha! (Hey, the visor is BRILLIANT for the person who wants to shield their face AND lighten their blonde roots, ok?!)

So, my conclusion is, WEAR the freaking sunscreen. Learn from me. I just left one week in Mexico, in the sun 6+ hours a day without any visible damage. (Before, when I didn't use sunscreen I could spend a few hours in the sun and every freckle and every sun spot i'd ever have was front and center, darker than ever on my face! So this is kind of huge:) Youngun's reading this: wear the sunscreen! You will wish you did someday!