Protect your greatest asset, your skin

Posted April 19, 2017

Bula Bulalicious fans! The sun is out, it’s (the Southern Hemisphere) Summer and I plan to be in the sun a lot. I love being in the sun and the sun loves me but I often overdo it and suffer the consequences.

In the islands we, and I mean us brown skinned islanders, rarely give our skin a second thought as we head out to play sport, swim or just hang with friends outdoors. Oftentimes the after-sun glow is taken as a sign of good health and is therefore welcomed.

I am nearly 49 and after years of being a sun-lover who did not bother much with sunscreen, I have woken up to the fact that in my line of work where I am on TV or facing crowds when I MC events, sunburn can go past the “sun-kissed glow” stage to just being unattractive, quite apart from the longer lasting but superficial effects like wrinkles and the more serious and potentially fatal skin cancer! I put on my long sleeved Bulalicious rash vest from the Taveuni Collection for the first time when I was in my native Kadavu and man, was I grateful for the sun protection it offered my arms, chest (decolletage area) and back. For a change I came back from the village without sunburn, except for on my lips.

I literally had my rash vest on for the whole day and part of the evening as I went speed boat riding, hiking, swimming at a waterfall and then in the ocean, and later went for a night scuba. I even started getting referred to as “Bulalicious” rather than Lenora by some of the Aussies I went hiking with, which was funny.

Now when I head outdoors I am conscious of protecting my skin and lips with sunscreen or at least a moisturiser that contains sunscreen and I am never going boating, swimming or diving again without my Bulalicious rash vest. I love it!