Lucy Mary

Did you know that 80% of sun damage happens before you turn 18? Frightening isn't it? When you think about it, all the times I've played on the playground on scorching days, sat on the grass for long sports days and walked to lessons in high school, the sun has definitely burnt my skin once or twice. An even more frightening stat is that 16.2k people get diagnosed with skin cancer every year. So why aren't we doing more to stop it?

Escentual's campaign is to end the VAT on children's sunscreen and educate school children on the importance of sun safety and protection. They will also donate thousands of bottles of SPF 50+ sunscreen to children whose families are struggling. For every bottle of Escentual sunscreen and lotion that is sold on their website, they donate a bottle of SPF 50+ sunscreen to a child in a school who is on free school meals. Escentual are aiming to ensure that all primary school children have free sunscreen. A challenge which I'm sure they will succeed at with our help! What a wonderful initiative! 

This is as good a reason as anything to buy some sunscreen. Wearing SPF can reduce the risk of certain skin cancer, especially melanoma. It's important to wear sunscreen when you're outdoors for prolonged periods for example, on holiday, if your job is based more outdoors (postman, builder etc). The higher the SPF factor you use, the more protected your skin will be. 

I would rather wear SPF than like look like Sebastian the lobster in Little Mermaid. Sunbathing is all well and good, but I think some are under the impression that wearing sunscreen diminishes the chances of getting a tan. What a load of rubbish! You can still get a perfectly good tan even when you wear a high SPF sunscreen. If you're worried about not getting a proper tan, then buy a fake tan. Simples. Sunburn can severely scar and damage the skin, wear sunscreen guys. 

Repeated sun exposure can have a huge negative impact on the skin. One of the big annoyances is WRINKLES. I don't want to look like a creased bedsheet when I'm 50. I'll be wearing sunscreen as often as I can to prevent as few wrinkles as possible. I don't fancy premature ageing of my skin because of the lack of wearing sunscreen. It's also important to make sure that you reapply sunscreen every couple of hours to guarantee protection - even if you're indoors.

I hope you can get behind Escentual's #SunPoverty campaign - let's get skin cancer cancelled! For more information on the campaign and about sun safety, follow these links for more information:

Some may think that you are limited to wearing such a vibrant colour during the Spring and Summer months. But I'm hoping these lilac blazer outfit ideas will inspire you to keep wearing it at the start of Autumn/Fall and even during the Winter too. Even if you don't have a lilac blazer, I'm sure that these outfit ideas can work with any other bright and vibrant blazer. Obviously, the black blazer is the most popular in terms of blazers. It's so classic and can be worn with pretty much any outfit and it's easy to style. 

But today, I want to discuss and create some new outfit ideas for the lilac blazer. A lilac blazer can be styled in a casual way and in a smart way too. As I said, lilac provides a vibrance and a splash of colour.

This is the Summer day to night outfit but will need a jacket when it gets chilly kind of outfit. I don't know why, I always used to feel weary wearing a blazer with shorts. I used to think that people walking behind me would think I didn't have any bottoms on! Nowadays, a blazer and shorts look is one of the best looks for the Summer! The shorts don't have to be blue denim, they can be white or even black. Also, you could swap the trainers for sandals should you wish. 

If you like wearing wedges, this look is the one for you! I don't often wear wedges as much as I used to, but love how I've used them in this outfit. Lilac pairs really well with white, obviously you can swap to blue or black jeans if you wish. Again, I've used this off-white cross-body bag to accessorise the outfit.