Despite the commonly known dangers of prolonged sun exposure without adequate protection, new figures show a shocking 75 per cent of women are risking skin cancer by going it out unprotected.
Ask any woman what the biggest negative consequence of unprotected sun exposure is, and she’ll promptly tell you – it’s skin cancer.
But it turns out we’re not always adept at taking our own advice.
An alarming new report from StollzNow Research has revealed a whopping 75 per cent of women have experienced sunburn over the last twelve months. That’s 75 per cent of women who’ve either slip-slop-slapped and not bothered to reapply, or forgone protection altogether.
The Cancer Council warns that while women with fair or freckled skin are at increased risk of sunburn and skin cancers without adequate amounts of protection, anyone who spends time in the sun should use sunscreen and wear sun protective clothing.
The Cancer Council also recommends using sunscreen offering a minimum of 30+ broad spectrum, water-resistant protection and reapplying every two hours.
In particular, its recommended people who work outdoors seek out shade during the hours of 10am to 2pm, when UV levels are at their highest.
The message is even more important for adolescent women, 21 per cent of whom are getting sunburned at least once every weekend during the Summer months.
“Many teens are simply forgetting to reapply sunscreen every two hours when out and about, or don’t realise sunburn can occur within 15 minutes of sun exposure,” says skin cancer prevention manager for Cancer Council NSW, Vanessa Rock.
Sunburn is currently the leading cause of melanoma, estimated to be behind up to 95 per cent of skin cancers.
Have your say: Do you advise your clients to use sunscreen as part of their skincare routines?