As all of us health conscious beauty bloggers say: your sunscreen is your best friend, especially in the summer season. It provides shelter against cancerous UV rays and minimizes your chance of getting nasty wrinkles.

So, you've listened to our advice, hooked up with a top of the range sunscreen with SPF 30 and are ready to hit those beaches, right? Wrong.

The first thing you have to know is that you HAVE TO put sunscreen on 30 minutes before going out. You can't just out it on, get into your bikini and head to the beach because your sun defense didn't have time to develop. Also, don't be stingy with the cream/lotion. It is recommended that you put on at least two tablespoons worth to get the protection needed.

REAPPLY your sunscreen lotion every 80 minutes or even more often if you swim, towel dry and sweat.

Oh, a couple of more facts for you: even if you buy a 'sun block' or a sunscreen lotion with an SPF near 50, you are maybe still not sheltered against the cancer and wrinkle causing UVA rays. Even though many manufacturers claim their sunscreen products to guard against all UV rays, the sad fact is that they are often lying to our faces.

How can you than tell which product to buy? The only thing I can advise is picked up from the wikipedia article: The best UVA protection is provided by products that contain zinc oxide, titanium dioxide or avobenzone.

At the end, let me just remind you that you do need sunlight in order to get your skin producing vitamin D, which in turn maintains steady levels of calcium and phosphorus in your blood and prevents a handful of nasty things happening. Read here where you can get your vitamin D.