3 days ago
Louise McSharry: Holiday-saving products for sun-sensitive skin
Our writer shares her pre-getaway routine to minimise allergy symptoms
The first time I went on a sun holiday, I was 19. I went to Zakynthos, a Greek island, with two friends for two weeks. It was a long holiday, and as you might imagine with three teenage girls, there was a bit of tension at times, but generally we had a good time. Well, they had a good time. I spent most days lying on my bed in our air-conditioned room.
My skin was reacting very severely to the sun. A couple of days into the holiday, large patches of redness had appeared. They were itchy and sore, and ultimately small blisters appeared on them. If I stayed out of the sun, I was OK, but once my skin was exposed to it, I was back to square one. I now know that what I was experiencing was a sun allergy called polymorphous light eruption (PMLE).
