Sun protection is not just for August

Ultraviolet radiation does not go away when the temperature drops. A cold, clear day in January can carry as much of it as a cloudy summer one, and altitude pushes it higher still: roughly 10% more for every thousand metres. Anyone walking up the Montseny on a Sunday in February is more exposed than they think. Three things that tend to surprise people: · **Clouds do not filter everything.** An overcast day lets a good share of the radiation through, and because the heat is not there, nobody puts anything on. · **The amount.** What people actually apply is usually half of what was used to assign the factor on the bottle. At half, the real protection drops by considerably more than half. · **Shelf life.** An opened bottle from last summer, kept in a car or a hot bathroom, no longer protects the same even if there is product left. If you are not sure which one suits you — reactive skin, daily use under make-up, children, after a dermatological treatment — ask us at the counter. It is a two-minute conversation and it saves buying the wrong bottle.