Little skin, big summer. How to protect your child’s skin this season

The festive season is synonymous with sunshine, swimming, holidays, outdoor adventures, and long days spent outside. For children, it is the best kind of freedom running barefoot, splashing in the pool, playing on the beach and spending hours outdoors with family and friends. But while children may be focused on having fun, their skin needs a little extra attention.

Children's skin is more vulnerable to the effects of UV exposure, and sun protection during childhood is particularly important. CANSA notes that children receive a significant proportion of their lifetime sun exposure before the age of 18, while childhood sunburn can contribute to long-term skin damage and increased skin cancer risk.

The good news? Protecting your child's skin doesn't have to be complicated. A few simple habits can make sun care part of the festive-season routine.

Make SPF non-negotiable

Sunscreen should be part of your child's morning routine before heading outdoors not something that only comes out when you're going to the beach. Choose a broad-spectrum sunscreen with high SPF protection and apply it generously to exposed areas before sun exposure. Don't forget those easily missed areas such as the ears, back of the neck, hands, feet, and tops of the shoulders. And remember sunscreen isn't a once-and-done activity. Children swim, sweat, towel themselves dry and generally find creative ways to remove every trace of sunscreen. Reapplication is therefore essential, particularly after swimming or sweating. CANSA recommends reapplying at least every two hours and after swimming.

Don't rely on sunscreen alone

One of the biggest mistakes parents can make is thinking sunscreen gives children permission to spend unlimited time in direct sunlight. It doesn't. Sun protection works best as a multi-layered approach. Encourage children to play in the shade where possible, particularly during the strongest part of the day. Hats, sunglasses, and protective clothing can provide an additional physical barrier between young skin and UV radiation.

For beach days and pool days, consider creating a shaded base camp where children can take regular breaks from the sun. It can become part of the holiday routine: swim, play, snack, shade, repeat.

Where does Helase 50 fit in?

For families looking to make daily sun protection part of their skincare routine, Lamelle Helase 50 offers an important layer of protection. The idea behind Helase is that protecting your skin shouldn't stop at SPF. Think of it as “Helase starts where SPF ends” supporting a more comprehensive approach to protecting skin from the environmental effects of sun exposure. For parents, this is particularly relevant during the festive season, when children may be exposed to significantly more sunlight than they are during a typical school week.

However, Helase 50 should form part of a broader sun-protection strategy rather than replacing hats, shade, protective clothing, and sensible sun exposure. And when applying any skincare product to children, always check the product's recommended age suitability and follow the instructions for use. For babies and very young children, keeping them out of direct sunlight is particularly important.

When too much sun happens

Let's be realistic: even the most organised parent can have a day where sunscreen wasn't reapplied quite quickly enough, a hat disappeared somewhere between the car and the beach, or a child simply refused to sit in the shade. This is where skin recovery and repair become important. Lamelle Helase Rescue Repair can form part of the post-sun skincare routine, helping parents care for skin following environmental exposure. Rather than simply thinking about sun protection as something that happens before going outside, it is useful to think about skincare as a before, during and after process.

The goal is not to use a repair product as permission to overexpose the skin. Prevention remains the priority. Instead, Rescue Repair can be considered part of caring for the skin after a long day outdoors.

Teach them while they're young

Perhaps the greatest gift parents can give their children this festive season is not another toy or swimming costume, but a healthy relationship with sun protection. Make sunscreen application a normal part of getting ready. Let older children learn how to apply it themselves, while parents make sure those easily missed areas are covered properly. Explain why they wear a hat and why taking a break in the shade is a good thing. These habits can become second nature. CANSA specifically recommends teaching children sun-smart behaviours and combining sunscreen with hats, protective clothing, sunglasses, and shade.

Protect the memories, not just the skin

The festive season should be about making memories not worrying about whether your child has had too much sun. So pack the sunscreen next to the swimming costumes. Keep a hat by the front door. Find the shady spot at the beach. Reapply after swimming. And remember that cloudy or cooler days don't necessarily mean UV exposure is insignificant. With the right habits, sun protection can become as automatic as brushing their teeth. Because while children may not appreciate it now, the skin they have today is the skin they will carry with them for the rest of their lives.

This festive season, let them run, swim, explore and play - just make sure their skin is protected for every adventure.