Ask Luke Reichle: Stay out of the sun in style

Ask Luke Reichle

Secrets of the red carpet

You've got questions, and we've got answers! SheKnows' contributing beauty and style expert, Luke Reichle, is taking your submissions and dishing out no-fuss answers! Today, we're tackling the serious subject of skin cancer. How can you stay stylish while protecting yourself from direct sun exposure? Luke's here to show you that taking care of your skin is always in style!

Dear Sunny,

Having been given this same news myself at one time, I know something of what you’re going through. If it’s any consolation, we’re on the leading edge of the trend. No actress in her right mind goes in the sun any more. Not in a town where apparently 60 is the new 30.

You can’t control the sun, but you can control your exposure to it. You can shield your skin and still keep your SPF (Style Protection Factor) high. And look on the bright side; you get to do it with accessories!

Sunscreen tip #1

Embrace your inner-milliner and go for hats! The brim should be wide enough so that at 11 a.m., its shadow covers your face to the chin. Due to the low angle, the sun is at its most harmful early morning and late afternoon when there is less atmospheric protection. The current vogue in wearing men’s fedoras, while adorable, will do nothing for you.

Sunscreen tip #2

Take a tip from The Jackie and go about in scarves and big wraparound sunglasses. This is an excellent way to protect the back of your neck and your ears, two areas often overlooked. I love this look when combined with a brim — a wide crownless hat (and a halter blouse and khaki culottes and wedge espadrilles and… OK… you get the picture).

Sunscreen tip #3

Create some mystery, in what is now for you, the not-so-great outdoors. If you gotta go to the beach — and sometimes you just gotta — bring an umbrella and stay under it. Frolicking in the waves can best be done in a rash guard. That’s the layer that surfers and divers wear under their wetsuits so they don’t get, well, a rash. Some very stylish options with an SPF of 50 are to be found at Gil, Volcom and Body Glove.

All of the above are accompanied by the caveat that you are wearing a full spectrum sunscreen — one that blocks both UVA and UVB rays. It will say so on the packaging. Put it on before your makeup or use a foundation with a high SPF. And don’t forget to slather up your hands. They, along with your nose, take the brunt of it.

Even if you don’t go into direct sun, wear sunscreen. You get a lot of unnoticed exposure from ambient sun — those are the rays that are bouncing off of things and on to you. Other than having someone walk behind you with an umbrella… wait, that’s not such a bad idea… I can see the outfit now.

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