Here's a little something for all your beachbums. For decades we've huddled beneath the protection of our beach umbrellas, clutching to the hope that it's in someway blocking out the sun. However a recent study shows that 34 percent of the sun's ultraviolet radiation can reach the ground shaded by a beach umbrella, this according to a research team in Spain.

Ultraviolent, or UV, rays emitted by the sun can cause sunburns as well as damage to the DNA within cells and can lead to skin cancer, such as melanoma.

Don't be alramed because umbrellas can still actually absorb most of the sunlight that shines down directly from above, but it's the radiation that can still get in from the sides.

"The umbrella intercepts the direct radiation that comes from the sun, but part of the diffused radiation, which makes up approximately 60 percent of the total, reaches the sensor from the sky not covered by the umbrella," said study researcher José Antonio Martínez-Lozano, of the University of Valencia in Spain.

So this is even more reason to wear that sunblock....allll the time....even if you have a darker skin tone.

I've been trying out various types of sunscreens over the last couple of weeks .It all started because I kept forgeting my sunblock at home and then always had to end up buying another type. I'll let you know what I've discovered....what are my faves...and whether those spray sun blocks really work.

Stay tuned for more on that!

Much Love,

Nneka