5 Important Tips on Sun Screen Protection

As an endurance athlete, it’s a foregone conclusion that I spend hours under the intense rays of the sun.  I know that my love for outdoor activities, while great for my body, can actually ruin my skin or worse lead to certain types of cancer, so I try my best to protect my skin from the sun with daily sun protection.

Last month, I was invited by Daylong Sunscreen (from the makers of Cetaphil) to join the advocacy of sharing the importance of daily sun protection and, without batting an eyelash, I said yes.  God knows how many people, especially runners and triathletes, still don’t put sunscreen daily and are unaware of how harmful the sun’s UV rays are on our health.

Proud to be a Daylong ambassador along with these multi-faceted women: student and FOX Sports Asia courtside reporter, Janeena Chan; lifestyle show writer and host, Marie Lozano; in-demand beauty blogger and entrepreneur, Marj Sia; and stylish mommy blogger, Jackie Go

Along with Janeena, Marj, Jackie, and Marie, Daylong invited us to participate in a weeklong study to determine our sun exposure.  We wore sun sensors daily and logged our activities.  What I learned from my own and the other women’s results was shocking. We shared the results at a Daylong event and even pledged our commitment to the advocacy of protecting our skin from UV rays.

Daylong ambassadors with John of Daylong 

Marj and I posting our pledges up on the Daylong wall

I pledge to put sunscreen daily!

Here’s what I learned about sun protection which should all remind us to protect our skin from the sun:

1+  Even if you’re indoors at night, you still get exposed to UV rays from your laptop screen or lights.  Don’t think you’re safe!

2+  Adults should put at least 7 teaspoons of sun screen daily to be safe from the sun.  You also need to reapply this after a few hours to be completely effective.

3+ Don’t be fooled into thinking that the higher SPF (such as 100), the better.  Truth is, SPF 50 is already effective.  Anything more than that is almost the same as the effectivity of an SPF 50.

4+ Your skin doesn’t ever forget a sun burn.  So, let’s say you skipped putting sun screen one time during a race and got sun burnt, your skin actually remembers that for life!  Lesson?  Don’t even skip a day of sunscreen.  Daily is the key word.

5+ You can google the UV Index in Manila (or any city in the world) to see how strong the sun’s ultraviolet radiation is during the day.  I clicked on weatheronline.uk.com and found that, as I write this, Manila’s UV Index is 12.  To compare, in the UK, they never exceed 8.  Did I freak you out enough?  Put them sunscreen on, people!

View our video below!