I'm back and, to be quite frank, shattered! I just attended my first ever "hot yoga" class and I can feel a habit forming already. The basic idea is that you go through yoga poses in a heated room to maximise the effects and relax muscles. This worked, and I'm definitely the better for it.
However! I was far too blissed out to even consider what would happen when I left the room. As you can imagine, spending over an hour stretching your body in a heated room produces sweat. A lot of it. Despite that fact it's actually a really nice experience. I didn't think that once I stepped out into the cold Irish evening that my soaking t-shirt would go ice cold. As I hopped into my car I made contact with a sodden, chilly piece of clothing. I nearly leapt through the windscreen. That will definitely be put down with notes for the next time.
All this experience with heat and the fact that it's July (combined with a fantastic point that Susan made in her post about your big day) got me thinking about SPF. As I'm a wrecked little bunny I'm going to go through some quick facts about SPF, how it works in make up products, and how to avoid the dreaded flashback! Read on, my lovelies.
- SPF cannot be layered to increase the protection factor. Layering an SPF 15 over an SPF 15 won't give you an SPF 30. Layering an SPF 15 and and SPF 30 won't give you 45, it'll remain at thirty. The highest factor you apply will be the highest protection your skin will have.
- The little rascal in make up and skincare products that causes flashback is "Titanium dioxide". This is a physical sunscreen that protects the skin by bouncing light back, so it reduces the amount of sunlight that actually has the chance to burn the skin. When photographed this ingredient does the same thing to a camera flash. This reflected light is caught on camera and makes your skin appear much paler.
- If you know you're going to be photographed it's best to avoid SPF altogether. If your primer or moisturiser contains an SPF you should be fine, as long as it doesn't exceed SPF 15/20. Try not to layer products that contain any sun factor as you'll only build up layers of TD and I don't think I need to tell you what that does! Definitely avoid any foundation products that contain this as they're right on top of the skin and in prime position to bounce back that flash.
- If you're not sure whether or not your base products will give you hassle, check the ingredients. If the aforementioned bad boy is high up on the list then I suggest you run a mile!
- Lastly, make sure you do wear an SPF every single day. I know I probably sound like some ridiculous medical professional or an Irish Mammy gone rogue but it really is important. Sun damage is one of the leading causes of premature ageing. That alone has me operating on vampire status and trying to avoid direct contact with sunlight as much as possible! You'd think that would be easy in Ireland, but funnily enough...
That, m'loves, is about all of the essentials I can think of. I know this was short and sweet but when summer rolls around I inevitably get asked by one or two people about the effects of sun protection in make up, so I thought I'd jot this down for any other confused souls out there. It's really simple once you know what to look out for, it's just getting that info that helps.
As always, any questions or queries are more than welcome! Give us a shout on any of our social media and either myself, Susan or Aisling will get back in touch.
I'm off to curl up in a ball and probably pass out peacefully.
Until next time!
J x
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