Your Skin’s Best Habit: Wearing Sunscreen Every Day

Why sunscreen should be an everyday habit 

Creating good daily habits is a way to improve your lifestyle, one small thing at a time. Starting with practical and realistic habits that you want to make is the best way to start. Understanding how you are going to achieve the goal of creating your everyday habits is how you will achieve them. Starting a new habit that you want to maintain every day, such as putting on sunscreen, is one that is on the easier side of things. Making sure you apply your sunscreen 15 mins before you leave your house and then after that at least every two hours after is important for your sunscreen to make a difference and work. Over time, creating consistency and putting on your sunscreen every day and reapplying when needed will become more familiar.

Creating the habit of putting on sunscreen

• Attach it to something you already know

Attaching putting on sunscreen to something you already do in your daily routine. Such as washing your face, “Okay, I just washed my face, now I am going to apply my sunscreen.” 

• Keep it the same every day

Put on your sunscreen at the same time, the same way every day. Once you engrave that routine into your head, it will become an easy habit. The consistency and repetition make the habit a mechanism that is hard for you to forget. 

• Make it easy

Don't make it harder on yourself to build this habit; have your product within reach when you want to use it every day. Get a moisturizer and sunscreen in one product. This is so you can knock out putting on your daily moisturizer and sunscreen all in one, fast and easy.

• Lower the bar and give it time 

Don't be hard on yourself if it takes time to make this a habit. It is okay if you forget it one day, just give it time, and you will start to create this habit as long as you are trying to be consistent. 

• Reapplication

Reapplication is key when applying sunscreen. Knowing the right times and the right amount of sunscreen reapplication is what some people mess up. Use a nickel-sized dot of sunscreen for just your face. The timing of when you apply your sunscreen is just as important as putting it on. Making sure you apply your sunscreen 15 minutes before you leave your house and then reapply it at least every two hours afterward is important for your sunscreen to make a difference and work effectively. 

Everyday activities that still require SPF

Of course, we all know the basic places where sunscreen should be applied before going like the beach, the lake, or the waterpark but there are some not so obvious places that people don't think to apply sunscreen before going because it feels unnecessary. It is an everyday product that should be applied before going almost anywhere. Going skiing in the snow lots might make me wonder why I would need sunscreen to go skiing in the snow, where it's cold, and there's no sun out but that is not the case. UV rays reflect most of the snow, which causes bad sun exposure if you do not put on the right products to protect your skin. Any outdoor event where your skin might be exposed to the sun requires SPF and needs to be reapplied. As long as there is daylight outside, you want to put on sunscreen to not risk the damage that may be caused to your skin without the sun protection. Beyond the sunny days, keep up the habit of applying your sunscreen not just on sunny or hot days. Don't forget your routine and take away this habit you created just because of a change in the weather. The consistency is how you make this a lifelong habit that will stick with you forever. A change in the weather shouldn’t mean you skip this important step. Even on overcast, rainy, or winter days, UV rays can penetrate clouds and still affect your skin. By applying sunscreen daily, you’re turning protection into a habit that becomes second nature, rather than something you remember only when the sun is out.