How to Practice Safe Sun This Summer

Tips for protecting your skin from the sun

We all love summer, with its bottomless sunshine, warmer days and endless chances to make memories outside while showing off your best bikini or cutest sundress. It’s our shot at tons of fresh air, easygoing afternoons and lazier days and nights. But with the season’s increased sun exposure comes a range of skin issues—from smaller ones like skin damage and melasma to more serious and dangerous ones like melanoma and skin cancer. So as summer kicks into high gear, it’s super important to practice safe sun. Here’s how.

From trees in the park to umbrellas at the beach, shade is your best bet when the summer months roll around. If you plan to be out all morning or afternoon picnicking or swimming with friends, try to post up in a spot that can keep you covered during hours of endless sun. A good thing to remember is that sun accumulates all day, even if it feels like time is flying by. So even if you take breaks from sunbathing to take a quick dip in the pool or go for a snack, be diligent about reapplying sunscreen and adding hats and cover-ups as needed. Love your skin and it will love you back, we promise.

With all the emphasis on skin care nowadays, from nightly routines to peels and procedures, the smartest thing you can do is protect your investment by always (always!) using barrier protection. Think hats, visors and all the good shady spots we just mentioned. Light linen shirts are great to toss over your bikini at the beach and a caftan is perfect for pools (the vibe: Palm Springs chic). Certain procedures like micro needling, chemical peels and laser treatments can leave our skin particularly vulnerable to sun, so in the summer months it’s smart to be doubly diligent and grab a hat on the way out the door—plus a back-up bottle of sunscreen so you can re-apply every few hours.

Sun can be sneaky—it bounces off surfaces like car windows and mirrors. Not everyone knows that sunshine can also reflect off surfaces from below like concrete, which means just wearing a hat on a sunny stroll doesn’t make you fully covered. It’s important to always go for both barrier protection and SPF to make sure you’re not inviting sunspots (or worse). And just because a day is on the gray side doesn’t mean you can slouch on protection—they say that every day you brush your teeth, you should also apply sunscreen. It’s an easy trick to remind us that even on cloudy days we can’t skip the SPF.

This summer, we want to make sure your fun in the sun is all fun and no stress. So take extra care to keep it covered from poolside to seaside, during volleyball matches, barbecues and picnics. It’s easy to do when you realize you’re keeping yourself safe from the effects of harmful rays that really add up. Once you get in the swing of packing your tote with a baseball cap or bucket hat, plus travel SPF, it becomes second nature. With a little practice, you’ll not only become a sun goddess in the summertime, but all year long.

Elle Kensington is a lifestyle writer based in NYC.