Is sunscreen necessary in winter?

During the summer I'm religious about applying sunscreen: I'm never without it and it's rarely below factor 30.

But once autumn has set in, it tends to go back in the cupboard till at least spring.

This might not be the best idea, as there's still plenty of damage that can be done from the sun all year round and I keep reading about how sunscreen should be a daily part of our beauty regimes.

Louise Thomas-Minns, a skin therapist and founder of Uandyourskin.co.uk, claims that the skin needs as much help as it can get when combating wind, cold, rain, snow, central heating and all of the other issues that come with winter weather.

She explains: "You have to be protecting your skin every day with a good environmental shield. This should not only contain an effective (at least) SPF15 sunscreen but botanicals and antioxidants to protect and coat the skin cells."

I'm certainly an advocate of organic beauty products, especially on my face, where the skin is quite sensitive but perhaps I need to make more effort to wear sunscreen during the colder months too.

But this doesn't have to be in the form of actual sunscreen, which I'll admit I do find a pain to wear under makeup, as it tends to leave my skin looking oily.

There are plenty of foundations available nowadays with SPF15 or more in them, especially if you're into BB creams.

Blemish balms are a great way at getting a light coverage, while also caring for your skin, protecting it from damage and providing spot-fighting assistance.

I may be in my 40s but it seems I'm still prone to the odd breakout unfortunately!

Are you getting to grips with sunscreen in winter?

Posted by Mandy Jones