At a party last night I was told by a few people I looked considerably younger than I actually am and I don’t think they were all drunk at the time either.

This came as a pleasant observation to me as over the years I have certainly not been kind to my skin.

Up until my early thirties I abused it terribly. I coated it in baby oil, carrot oil and coconut oil, not all at the same time I hasten to add, and fried in the sun. My quest for a tan led me to spend more time on sunbeds than is now deemed safe and generally I took my skin for granted.

Not surprisingly my misspent youth has caught up with me and I’ve had numerous questionable spots cut off or frozen from my arms, legs and shoulders. According to my doctor they were all attributable to “sun damage”.

What I didn’t realise until far too late is that there’s no such thing as a safe tan.

Any tan is a sign of skin damage and if you go out in the sun and burn you damage your DNA which makes you more susceptible to skin cancer. Once you start to go red it is a sign you are doing some damage so the current advice is to limit your exposure to 15 minute intervals.

That’s probably the amount of time I used to stay out of the sun, but not any more. With climate change, the thinning of the ozone layer and generally being older and wiser I realise the importance of sun protection.

Each year there are more and more cases of skin cancer reported. In UK just last year (2006-7) there were 75,000 new cases and apparently many people didn’t even realise the sun could be a factor.

Most people have now heard the advice of Slip-Slap-Slop which refers to slipping on a tee-shirt, slapping on some sunscreen and slopping on a wide brimmed hat which are all very sensible suggestions.

However, it seems that even these may not be enough to protect us from the damaging UV rays of the sun unless we are a bit more conscious about things.

The sun gives off UVA, UVB and UVC rays. The A ones are ageing, the B ones are burning and the C ones are not quite so specifically defined. Sunshine also promotes the production of Vitamin D which is vital for healthy bones and reducing the risk of cancer. It gives us that feel good factor.

We are advised and encouraged to use sunscreens with a minimum sun protection factor of 15 (SPF 15) and in some shops that is the minimum protection you will find. It is also recommended we reapply them frequently. However, whilst this should provide protection from the harmful UV rays there could be a downside.

Most of our vitamin D is made in the skin when we absorb sunlight so if we block the absorption with sunscreens we can reduce our ability to produce it. Some of the higher SPF sunscreens block the absorption by as much as 95%.

Also, some sunscreens contain potentially harmful chemical such as PABA and Oxybenzone which can cause allergic eczema and photo sensitivity in some people.

Another ingredient, titanium dioxide is now being blamed for the rise in skin cancer for users who stay too long in the sun.

So what is the answer?

Well it seems the best way is to cover up and wear dense clothing where the fibres are close together. Linen and thin cotton are not sufficient as the UV rays can penetrate the material. If you do choose to wear light flimsy items of clothing it is highly recommended you also wear sun protection of at least SPF 10 underneath.

I take much more care of my skin now and don’t sunbathe at all. Of course it’s too late as the irreversible damage has already been done, but the natural organic products I now use ensure I am now treating it with the respect it deserves.

My skin care is 100% free of synthetic toxic chemicals which you find in most products and contains only purely natural beneficial ingredients. I figure I’ve done enough damage over the years without exposing myself to potentially harmful toxins which have never been tested either individually or in combination as well.

It must be working which is why I’m feeling pretty smug today.

Protect yourself from the harmful rays of the sun and the harmful chemicals in water contacting your body by using the new product in the swimwear industry, Bodykini.

Bodykini has been designed by Oliver Momeni. Oliver Momeni crafted the Bodykini after a deep research and by tactful strategic design needs of modern age modest women and Muslim women.

Till date we have felt that as Bodykini has been designed for Muslimahs it is meant for use only for the Muslim women but that’s not true. Bodykini is a modest swimwear designed to enhance the performance in aqua sports. Along with providing a comfortable design to enjoy the sports, Bodykini provides protection against the harmful rays of sun.

Bodykini Swimwear is a two piece swimsuit, a shirt with an attached headpiece and a separate pant. The swimwear is designed not to reveal any body part and covers the body from head to toe. The suit is available in two colors: Black suit with Pink stripes and Brown suit with Orange stripes. The fabric used to make the swimming suit is a high quality water-repellent material that is not only highly Chlorine/Salt water resistant but also provides an ultraviolet rays protection factor of +50 that blocks the harmful rays of sun. The use of such a fabric does not make the garment cling to your body when you come out of the water.

With the environmental changes happening so fast and the harmful rays of the sun leading to diseases like skin cancer, it becomes more important to protect you while performing the aquatic sports. Bodykini provides the right protection to your skin.

Most of the products available in the market provide comfort at the cost of exposing body or provide protection to your skin but at the cost of comfortable swimming experience. Bodykini provides both without any tradeoff. Bodykini covers the complete body and exposes only the face, hands and feet giving women confidence and brings out the modesty in them.

So, fight back the harmful rays of sun, unleash your modesty, get active in your lifestyle in a modest trendy way and most importantly do all this without any tradeoff, do it with Bodykini. The swimwear each and every woman must have.

It’s one of the most frequent questions I get. Patients ask me all the time: Do I really need to wear sunscreen? And the answer is, “Yes, no matter who you are, where you live, where you work, you really need to wear sunscreen every day.” Why am I so determined to get everybody slathered with skin protection? Well, nobody is in a better position than a dermatologist to see the harsh effects of solar radiation on human skin.

Most people know that exposure to the ultraviolet (UV) rays of the sun can lead to skin cancer, especially in fair-skinned people with light eye and hair color. But it’s not only pale folks who are at risk: multiple sunburns, for any skin color or type, raise the risk of skin cancer. And sunscreen really can effectively prevent sunburn, if you use it right.

Short of cancer, though, years of sun exposure gradually change our skin in ways that make us look – well, old. Yes, sunlight can promote premature aging of the skin, accelerating natural aging processes, weakening collagen, and causing the elastic fibers in skin to uncoil like a worn-out bedspring. And then – well, you know the rest. Your skin sags. Gravity takes over, the skin can’t hold out, so down it comes.

Sun exposure also dries out skin and reduces its ability to hold moisture. The resulting lines and wrinkles sharpen the appearance of aging. And the cute, charming freckles that the sun brings out in childhood morph into the brown spots and discoloration that plague us as we get older.

So how can we use sunscreen to get the skin protection we need? First, be sure you get the right product. The worst sun damage comes from UVA rays. UVA has a longer wavelength, so it can penetrate deeper into the skin, causing the aging effects we associate with sun exposure. We now know that UVA exposure also blocks your skin’s natural repair mechanisms, so that previous damage and pre-cancers cannot be reversed. It’s UVA radiation that can give you a sunburn on a cloudy day – it travels right through the clouds. And it can go through the glass of your car windows, which is why we dermatologists see the most skin cancers on the head and neck, on the left. Look at the left side of your neck. Do you see brown spots? When you were 13, they didn’t have UVA protection. That’s the ray that’s aging you.

So I always urge my patients to make sure they have the right product, and to use it correctly. First, look for a bottle or tube of sunscreen that blocks both UVA and UVB rays (UVB is the one that causes burning between 10 am and 3 pm). More tips for effective sunscreen use:

Be sure you get a sunscreen with an SPF number of at least 30

Apply it liberally, about 15 to 20 minutes before sun exposure

Reapply every one to two hours, especially if you’re going into the water or perspiring a lot

Once you have the sunscreen part down, there’s more you can do to protect yourself from the sun:

Limit your sun exposure, especially during the high sun hours of 10 am to 3 pm

Seek shade can whenever possible

Find sun protective clothing – it offers effective protection while you’re outdoors

Throw away your sunscreen from last year and purchase new products

That last point needs some extra emphasis. Most people don’t realize that these old sunscreens chemically break down. Unless there’s an expiration date on the bottle, you can’t assume they’ll provide the label’s SPF protection for more than a year.

For the take-home message, I’d just like to elaborate on the advice of journalist Mary Schmich (she’s the one who really wrote the “Vonnegut speech”), and urge everybody to use sun protection that blocks both UVA and UVB to their exposed skin each and every day. In other words – “Wear sunscreen!”