Diamonds & Pebbles: Sunscreen is Life.

(Quite literally). Now that the weather is getting warmer and the sun spends most of the day blazing down on us (last week was an amazing example of both), I wanted to share something I’m very passionate about: SUNSCREEN. To be honest this wasn’t always the case. For the longest time I wasn’t really aware of sunscreen – aka I would see adverts on TV but thought it was something optional, kind of like makeup – and didn’t really think too much of it. Then I went through a phase (after reading about how Black people’s melanin protects them from the sun – I’m paraphrasing by the way), and told myself that because I was Black I didn’t need any. Then, in the last few years, something clicked in my mind and I started wearing sunscreen ALL THE TIME. It took me a while to find “the one” for me and when I first started wearing it, most of the products were greasy, gross and felt like it just sat on the top of my skin. I also found that a lot of products made me feel (and look) like an overshined slab of mahogany wood – not cool. Obviously when you have a product that makes you feel a negative kind of way you’re not really going to be too psyched about using it, which is what happened to me a lot. So, my sunscreen of choice? Nivea’s Sun Protect & Moisture 50+ which also offers immediate protection.

I’ve been using Nivea for a few years (starting with their SPF30 before convincing myself that going up to 50+ would fix all the problems in my life hahaha) and I have to say their sunscreen is great. Not only does it protect against UV and UVB rays, but it’s also water resistant, squirts out of the bottle so you don’t have to worry about squeezing out too much, glides over your skin, it doesn’t just sit on the top layer of your skin and it’s not greasy. If anything, the only downside is probably the smell (but don’t all sunscreens have the same weird smell), and that whenever I get it in my eye, my eye won’t stop running for at least half an hour.

Not to sound like a nagging sister (I did nag at my sister for ages trying to get her to wear sunscreen), but it is soooo important to protect your skin from not only the sun, but also from fumes and other pollution. Sunscreen is perfect because it helps protects you from those harmful toxins in the air and can (and should) be worn all year round. Luckily a lot of foundations have at least SPF15 so on those days where you forget to apply some sunscreen, you have a little protection on your face.