You might feel, a sunscreen is just another skincare product and you don’t really need any, your skin is fine! The truth is, everybody needs sunscreen. Just like how important it is to cleanse your face twice a day, sunscreen is just as important. 

But your skin feels perfectly okay and humans need their daily dose of Vitamin D from the Sun, what’s the worst that could happen? According to health professionals, it’s better to get Vitamin D from your diet than direct sun exposure, especially the prolonged ones. 

Do you know that almost 90% of premature skin ageing is caused by lack of UV protection? Sunscreen helps protect your skin while you’re out and about, getting exposed to the harmful rays that penetrate into the skin, causing skin damage in the long run. Well in this case, premature ageing. Despite thinking that you might not need one because you’re always indoors, you really do need to lather up because UV rays can pass through windows if it’s in the day!

Even for a quick grocery run, you need your sunscreen because you might be protected from UVB rays, but you’re always exposed to UVA rays. FYI, UVA stands for Ultraviolet-A, has longer wavelength that’s associated with ageing and UVB stands for Ultraviolet-B, has shorter wavelength and is linked to skin burning. 

Overexposure to UV rays will cause hyperpigmentation too. UV rays pose a risk on your skin because they trigger your skin’s melanocytes which will then cause your skin to start producing pigment and eventually, causing a melanin overproduction. 

Not just that, prolonged sun exposure will also cause liver spots or age spots, which are small and flat dark areas of the skin. Also alternatively known as sun spots. These, however, are more common among those aged 50 and above but the chances are still high if you don’t wear sunscreen at all. Doctors also take liver spots as a possible sign of skin cancer which brings us to our next point, skin cancer.

Though not all, most skin cancers are linked to overexposure to UV rays in sunlight. It has not been proven to be a direct cause of cancer, but studies have shown UV rays as carcinogenic to humans. 

Other than those listed, UV rays could cause eye problems where it could inflame the cornea of your eyes or cause the formation of cataracts which will cloud your eye lens, impairing your vision. UV rays also pose a threat to your immune system where your body will have a difficulty to combat infections.

So, lather up, people and Never Forget Sunscreen!