Proteja a pele do sol.

Portuguese often leaves out the subject pronoun when it is clear from context.

In a command like Proteja a pele do sol, the person being addressed is understood. In English, we must say Protect..., where you is implied; Portuguese works similarly here.

If you wanted to make the subject explicit, you could say Você, proteja a pele do sol, but that is usually unnecessary and sounds more emphatic.

Proteja is the imperative form used for você / o senhor / a senhora in standard Portuguese.

It comes from the present subjunctive of proteger:

• que eu proteja
• que você proteja

That same form is used for the affirmative command:

• Proteja a pele do sol.

By contrast, protege is associated with tu in the standard imperative:

• Protege a pele do sol.

So the difference is mainly about who you are addressing and register. In Brazil, você is very common, so proteja is a very natural form for general advice, instructions, and public messages.

Portuguese often uses the definite article with body parts when it is already obvious whose body part is meant.

So a pele here naturally means your skin in context.

This is very common in Portuguese:

• Lave as mãos. = Wash your hands.
• Feche os olhos. = Close your eyes.
• Proteja a pele do sol. = Protect your skin from the sun.

You can say sua pele, and that may add emphasis or sound slightly more explicit:

• Proteja sua pele do sol.

Both are correct, but a pele is very natural.

Here, do sol means from the sun or against the sun’s effects/exposure.

So although de often means of, with the verb proteger it commonly means from:

• proteger alguém de algo = to protect someone from something
• proteger algo do sol = to protect something from the sun

So this is not saying the skin of the sun. It means the skin should be protected from the sun.

Because de + o contracts to do in Portuguese.

This is a very common contraction pattern:

• de + o = do
• de + a = da
• de + os = dos
• de + as = das

Since sol is masculine singular and normally takes o in this structure, de o sol becomes do sol.

Yes. Proteja-se do sol is also very natural.

The difference is:

• Proteja a pele do sol focuses specifically on the skin
• Proteja-se do sol focuses on yourself in general

So:

• skincare / health advice: Proteja a pele do sol
• broader warning or advice: Proteja-se do sol

Both are correct and common.

It is best described as neutral, standard, and instructional.

Because it uses proteja, it sounds like the kind of language you might see in:

• health advice
• packaging
• advertisements
• public information
• medical or skincare recommendations

It is not extremely formal, but it is more standard than casual speech.

Yes, contra o sol is possible and understandable.

For example:

• Proteja a pele contra o sol.

That said, proteger ... do sol is very common and idiomatic in Portuguese. It often sounds especially natural in this kind of health or skincare advice.

You may also hear more specific versions such as:

• Proteja a pele dos raios solares.
• Proteja a pele contra os raios UV.

In Brazilian Portuguese, proteja is pronounced approximately:

pro-TE-zha

More closely:

• pro = like pro
• te = stressed syllable
• ja = with j sounding like the s in measure or the g in genre

So the stress is on te:

pro-TE-ja

The final a is usually a lighter sound in Brazilian Portuguese, something like uh/ah depending on accent.