Here comes the sun

A friend recently told me that he now applies sunscreen to his face every day – as an anti-ageing measure. He’s only in his early 30s, but you can never start anti-ageing soon enough, he says. Until now, I’d only heard this statement from Botox-hungry girlfriends, but it seems to apply not only to rejuvinating nerve agents. After all, or so my friend tells me, your skin ages up to 80 percent faster under the sun. Years ago, when my dermatologist told me this, she responded to my question about whether I could still go to the beach by saying, “only if you can’t help it”.

Since then, I’ve been pondering what that means – only if you can’t help it. When life no longer seems to have any meaning without the sea? It goes without saying that I use sun protection factor 50, as recommended, but so far only when the sun is blazing hot. I realise shortly afterwards that I’m obviously out of touch when I ask another friend how he feels about the matter. “Sunscreen is the most important thing!” he tells me. “You don’t want to have to deal with cancer or wrinkles 30 years from now, do you?”

When I say that I don’t know what’s in it, he recommends a standard pharmacy brand. It’s safe and not at all expensive, he says. Leon recommended it, it would seem. Leon, he tells me, is a biology student and beauty influencer who recommends products and talks about their ingredients on his Instagram account xskincare. I’ve already marked him down as an influencer when I take a look at his profile. It doesn’t take long for me to admit defeat. Not only because dozens of good friends are among his followers, but also because he genuinely seems to know what he’s talking about. And he advises against products more often than he recommends them.

One issue is particularly close to Leon’s heart, namely sunscreen – “preferably at home, too”, he says. “Because UVA rays also come through the window.” Duly noted. I’m only in my early 30s, but you can never start early enough with sunscreen.

Florian Siebeck lives in Frankfurt and writes for Frankfurter Allgemeine, Monocle and Architectural Digest, among other publications. A song that changed his life forever is, appropriately enough, entitled “Wear Sunscreen”.

This article was first published in the spring 2021 print edition of 30 Grad.