An overcast cloudy day while holidaying in the South of France, would for some be an irritating disruption to their relentless routine of baking in the sun. For the most part our party of ten friends has welcomed the cooler day as a reprieve, and a chance for the golfers in our crowd to marinade their frazzled skin in aloe vera after sun lotion. Despite the warnings of the effects sun damage has on your skin, they have once again succumbed to scorched, crimson skin, the type akin to the easily spotted “British tourist’! 
Obviously when probed as to the reason for the sorry state of their sunburned skin, the usual excuses are presented. “We forgot our suncream”, “we didn’t think the sun was so strong” and “we applied some before we left”.
People wise up!! Sunscreen must be applied regularly throughout the day (ideally every couple of hours), and a minimum of factor 15 should be used. If prolonged exposure is expected, wear a hat, and if you are swimming or playing in the water reapply every hour. One our friend’s daughter, who has beautiful young skin, spends hours in the pool every day, and even with the extreme vigilance of her mum applying water resistant factor 30, has slightly burned her face.
The fact of the matter is that the freckled pale skin of the majority of Brits, just isn’t able to cope with prolonged periods of sun exposure. Remember to follow the basic guidelines of being safe in the sun.
1. Apply a high factor sun cream to all exposed skin.
2. Wear a hat.
3. Stay out of the sun between midday and 2pm.
4. If doing water sports or swimming, reapply sunscreen regularly.
5. If you do burn, keep the area completely covered and out of the sun.
And remember ladies, sun damage is the biggest cause of premature aging and wrinkles!!