Today I am going to talk about something basic on taking care of yourself while on vacations, yes we know we want to pamper ourselves with Fun, food and drinks, and possibly a SPA treatment, but as weird as it sounds, we also need to protect ourselves.

Yes skincare is a must while on a trip to paradise, the Sun’s Ultraviolet lights are harmful in the long run, with a variety of things that can be acquired, by the continuous exposure to daylight, like a skin disease, burns ranging from a minor to a third degree, or even Skin Cancer.

I remember back in the days when we went with my family to the beach, mom covered my whole body in lotion, and certain parts as nose and ears had extra layers of it. I eventually got tanned or slightly sunburnt, but that's because I was running around between the beach and the pool.

No one, ever taught my mom or even me for that matter, what were the differences on just applying lotion or applying sunscreen, both serve the same purpose right? WRONG, so today I am going to explain them to you, so next time you go on vacations you'll be prepared.

First of All, what does the Sunscreen do ? does it block the sun rays away from your body, does it prevent them from touching your skin, or does it embrace them in a less harmful way? Well, it does 2 out of 3, The Physical sunscreen contains inert mineral particles, that reflect UV rays like a mirror while other types diffuse the light and harmful rays before they reach your skin, this are regularly the chemical ones.

What should you be looking at when purchasing a lotion to prevent the rays from affecting the skin?

First of all that the sun cream, can mitigate UVA and UVB lights; The UVA are rays that don't cause sunburns, but do go into the skin and accelerate the wrinkling process. The best sunblocks are the ones that contain one or more of the following ingredients sulisobenzone, Zinc oxide. Ecamsule, avobenzone, oxybenzone or titanium dioxide; The UVB are the most harmful rays as they are the ones that in the long run can cause from a melanoma up to skin cancer.

I used to think that the higher the SPF ( sun protection factor), the better, but boy I was mistaken, the SPF relates more to sun protection for the UVB rays, and the factor indicates the amount of rays that get into the skin and the time they take to get there, per example the 15, it allows only 1/15 the rays to reach your body, and gives you up to 150 minute protection based on skin and intensity of sunlight (unless you get into the water, and it washes off)

SPF 15 protects a 93 % meaning only 7 % of rays can penetrate your skin

SPF 30 protects a 97 % meaning only 3 % of rays can penetrate your skin

SPF 50 protects a 98 % meaning only 2 % of rays can penetrate your skin

Experts recommend using the SPF 15 or 30, cause it's the most balanced one to protect you against UVA and UVB photon rays, SPF 50 or above focus more on protecting you from the UVB rays only.

Now there are also different types of sunscreens: we have the creme ones, the spray, and the waterproof, choose carefully which one to buy, as each body is different and you should take in consideration that none of the active ingredients irritate your skin, especially the sensitive ones.

Now, not just because the sticker says its waterproof, means that is going to last forever, it only means it is more resistant to water, an average of 40 min, so that it will last longer than the regular ones, but you will still need to reapply them regularly throughout the day.

IMPORTANT: USE only BIODEGRADABLE Sunblock

Please take in consideration Nature, when traveling to Cancun, there are lots of attractions to visit, most of them involve activities in the water, the Coral reef is an essential part of the ecosystem, so taking care of it is a priority for all. Purchasing and environmentally friendly sunblock helps nature as their compounds dissolve naturally in the environment, causing minor damage to marine life. You may have heard of the coral reef bleaching affecting 25 % of the marine life around the world, well the use of chemicals in some sunscreen, causes this.

You can look them up online, or purchase at our convenience store inside the hotel, always make sure you be mindful of your surroundings, and that to be able to enjoy the beaches, you need to contribute on keeping them safe.

I hope that this information is helpful to you, as it was some time ago to me, I advise you to avoid getting a sunburnt as it takes up to 2 weeks to recover from them, also try and not to buy brand name sunblocks, as they have harmful ingredients for the environment.

Thank you, and enjoy your upcoming Vacations at the beautiful destination of Cancun.