The best advice I received for anti-aging or as I call it, aging gracefully was “sunblock is your best friend.” After spending most of my life under the sun, competing and training for tennis, I’ve had to use the best products to prevent the damages of the sun.

As someone who competed professionally as an athlete and trains competitive athletes for a living, I’ve had to use the best products to protect, restore, renew and rejuvenate (my that is a lot of r words!) my skin.

It hasn’t been easy…especially since I have melasma but here are some  tips to protect you as you train outdoors!

SUN PROTECTION

1. Physical sunscreen > chemical sunscreen. Physical sunscreen, specifically zinc oxide blocks most of the UV rays. The higher the zinc oxide %, the better. I use a minimum of 5% zinc oxide on my face when I am not training/coaching and minimum of 8% zinc oxide when I am. The challenge with this ingredient is that it leaves a white paste on the skin so try to find one with a more advanced formulation. Eminence Tropical Vanilla Sunblock SPF 32 is a great combo of organic moisturizer + zinc oxide 5%. It’s pricey but worth it.
2. Clothing coverage > sunscreen. Yes, sunblock is necessary but the right clothing will protect you better. Try products from Coolibar (I love their neck guard) or Rit Sun Guard, a sunblock detergent that adds UV protection to your fabric. I also suggest wrap-around sunglasses. Your eyes will typically be the first to show the signs of aging as the skin in that area is thin and fragile. Better to protect and cover then spend $$$  fixing the damage.
3. Re-apply with powder sunscreen. I hate re-applying but know it is necessary unless I want to see my melasma pop up in brown blotches all over my face. I use Colorscience SPF 50 as a touch-up during the day when I am coaching. It’s perfect because I don’t have to worry about my sweat negating the efficacy of sunscreen…I just dust on, and voila! I’m protected.
4. Heliocare Supplements. For those –athletes who train in the sun like yours truly–who need that extra boost in protection take Heliocare. It’s a supplement that increases your skins resiliency against UV rays.
5. Vitamin C topical. This is a separate topic on its own but any type of antioxidant, especially Vitamin C, does wonders in protecting against UV damage and general environment stresses to the skin. Skinceuticals CE Ferulic or Phloretin CF Gel are some of the best Vitamin C topicals in the market. There are other fantastic brands (Obagi, Cellex-C, IS Clinical, SkinMedica to name a few) but Skinceuticals is known for their Vitamin C formulas and scientific research showing protection for 24 hours after application of their serum.