Clothing that protects your skin from the sun

Over the last couple of years I have become extremely paranoid about protecting my skin from the harmful rays of the sun. I wish I had known years ago about how much damage the sun’s rays can do to the skin. Especially the UVA ones which do long term harm that may not become apparent for decades. However most women of my generation were ignorant of these facts and we used to lie out in the midday sun sometimes smothered in olive oil. There were very few sun protection products on the market back then and you were considered something of a “wuss” if you used so much as a factor 15.

Now we all know better and there are more and more products on the market to help us to keep our skin safe and young looking. I smother a factor 50 mineral sun protection cream on my face every morning and touch up during the day with a mineral powder (especially on my nose).

The highest protection is to be fully covered at all times. This however is not that practical on the beach if you want to look “chic and fashionable”. HydroChic to the rescue with their ultra practical and elegant UV range. Clothes that you can wear for jogging, swimming, yoga or all three if you are that energetic. They kindly sent me an outfit to take with me to France to try out and photograph on the most popular beach in St. Tropez “Pampelonne”. We got up early in order to have peace and quiet and avoid the crowds. Here are the results.

I have never done yoga on a beach before and it was a wonderful experience. I wonder if I have the discipline to get up early enough to do this more often.

This is not a sponsored post although I was sent a complimentary outfit to try and which I will keep down here in the South of France as I found it great for walking on the beach and feeling completely protected from the strong sun.