Protect Your Skin While Gardening

When we are out in the garden, we often do not notice that we are being sunburned until it is too late. While sunny days are when we are most likely to suffer a sever burn while gardening, don’t be tricked when it is a cloudy sky. Some may think that we are safe from the harmful UV rays on cloudy or overcast days. Not. This is a misconception for UV rays penetrate through the clouds and will burn our skin anyways. And besides UV rays, we should also protect our skin from mosquitoes and other insects, as well as plants with thorns and sharp edges foliage.

And dozen times of sunburn, countless mosquito bites, cuts and abrasions later, I have finally learned my lesson of skin protection. Here I would like to share a few tips of skin protection when we are in the garden.

• Wearing long sleeves shirts and long pants under the hot sun may sound unbearable. But give it a try with one of those quick drying, UV protection shirt and pants, and you will love it. These UV shirts and pants are made of breathable material that is very light and easy to dry. Of course, these shirts and pants are more expensive than regular ones, but they worth the investment for these shirts and pants are not only functional, but stylish for other occasions besides gardening as well.

• I also put on a cap with extra wide brim and large removable flap that provide better coverage and protection for my face and neck. I really like this cap that I am using right now because I can fold up the brim when I find it gets on my way while performing some tasks.

• Wear garden gloves to protect our hands from the sun (we don’t want a tan line on our wrists, do we?), and more important, from the cuts and blisters that we may get when handling thorny plants. Here, you can check these posts for more about garden gloves.
  Tips of Choosing Gardening Gloves
  The Many Different Types of Garden Gloves

• Wear a SPF30 sunscreen, especially on the faces, and reapply every hour if one is sweating profusely. In addition, we should focus on the areas of our bodies that are exposed the most frequently, in particular the back of our necks.

• Try to avoid working under the sun between 11am and 3pm. This is when the sun is at its hottest.

• Take cover in shaded areas as often as possible to get out of the direct sunlight.

• Don’t forget to protect our lips.  Our lips have very delicate skin and can easily be damaged by over exposure to UV rays.