MANTL was born around the idea of creating elevated sun care for bald and balding people — allowing them to display their baldness fully and proudly.  With 1 in 5 Americans getting skin cancer by the age of 70, it’s important to understand the risks associated with sun exposure, especially as a bald or balding person.  

Sunlight can be good for you.  Sunlight helps us keep our sleep schedule, fight off depression, and get our vitamin D — good for strong bones and overall health.  About 10 minutes of full sun exposure will do the trick.  Morning sunlight is preferred as sun rays can be more powerful and damaging later in the day.

However, sun exposure over longer periods of time can lead to skin damage through sunburns, sun spots, premature aging, and skin cancer. Sunlight comes in two forms of ultraviolet light, UVA and UVB.  UVA can penetrate deep into the dermis, which can lead to wrinkles and skin aging — and can penetrate through clouds and glass.  This is why it’s important to wear sun protection daily, even if you’re inside or on a cloudy day.  UVB burns the upper parts of the dermis but still plays a key role in the beginning stages of skin cancer. 

How To Protect Yourself

Here are some key ways to reduce the risk of skin cancer and premature skin aging. 

1. Cover it up - Wear a Hat! Keep a hat with you in your car and on the go.  Just don’t use a mesh hat, and if possible use a UPF hat, which stands for Ultraviolet Protection Factor.  The number on the hat or piece of clothing indicates what fraction of the sun’s UV rays can penetrate the fabric. A shirt labeled UPF 50, for example, allows just 1/50th of the UV radiation to reach your skin. 2. Dermatologists recommend using a sunscreen with at least an SPF 30 Broad Spectrum (meaning that it protects against both UVA and UVB rays).  MANTL’s Invisible SPF meets these requirements — and it’s a patent-pending clear formula! Reminder: It’s important to wear sunscreen daily (at least on your face and scalp), even when it’s cloudy or when you’re inside.  Sun rays can penetrate through clouds and glass! 3. Stay in the Shade - Do your best to stay out of the sun when possible.

Now let’s cover the difference in the skin on our scalp versus the skin on our face. 

The skin on your head is the thickest on your body and has more sebaceous glands, which produce sweat.  As a result, your scalp skin ages 12 times faster than the rest of the skin on your body.  There are a number of reasons, but one is sun exposure — so don’t forget to protect your scalp too!  

Bottom Line:  Protect your skin from the sun to avoid skin damage, skin cancer, and premature signs of aging.  Follow our key advice and use your MANTL Invisible Daily SPF — as we said, DAILY!