How to protect yourself from the sun?
As you know, the sun can have harmful effects on your health: sunburn, sunstroke, accelerated aging of the skin, melasma, skin cancer, etc... The list is long. This is why, despite the fact that many people enjoy basking in the sun, it's important to remain vigilant and protect yourself from the ultraviolet rays of the sun.
Choose a parasol with optimal protection
At Belveo, we make wind-resistant umbrellas that are built to last, but of course, these umbrellas are primarily designed to protect you from the sun while dining on the terrace or napping on a deck chair by the pool.
To be effective against UV rays, the fabric of a parasol must be of good quality. If the weave is too loose, the rays will pass through and the protection will be less effective.
UPF Index
To know the level of protection of a fabric, you must look at the UPF (Ultraviolet protection factor). This index varies from 15 to 50+ depending on the protection provided. With an index of 15 to 20, the protection against UV is good. It is very good between 25 and 35. The protection is excellent from 40 to 50+. With an index 50 UPF+, up to 98% of UV rays will be stopped against 93% with an index UPF of 15.
At Belveo, except for our two entry-level sunshades, which do not have the highest level of protection, all sunshades have a protection level of 50 UPF+ which is the maximum protection level !
The choice of color
It is important to know that at Belveo, regardless of the color of fabric you choose for your umbrella, both light and dark colors meet the 50 UPF+ standard. Even if in theory, it is true that dark colors absorb more UV rays than light colors, which give a cooler impression.
The advantages of a parasol with offset pole
To be perfectly protected all day long, we recommend you the parasols with offset pole. We have several models at Belveo. The advantage of these parasols is that they often offer a larger shade area than a central pole parasol. In addition, unlike a center pole umbrella, your offset pole umbrella can rotate 360° and thus follow the movements of the sun to keep you in the shade at any time of the day.
The parasol alone is not enough
Although a parasol with a quality fabric helps protect you from the sun, the parasol does not protect you 100%. Indeed, some UV rays can arrive by the sides. Sand, water or even grass, but to a lesser extent, can create a reverberation effect by reflecting UV rays. This is why even with a sunshade with a high UPF index, we recommend the duo sunshade and sunscreen for optimal protection.
Indeed, studies have shown that the use of sunshade and sunscreen alone is not enough. The best is to apply a sun cream with a high SPF. We recommend at least SPF 30 but SPF 50 is ideal. In addition to that, put yourself in the shade of an umbrella with a protection factor 50 UPF+. You will then be able to stay calmly outside on beautiful summer days while avoiding sunburn at best !
