Beauty And The Blog

Summer. We all love it. Warm weather, beaches, lakes. Barbecues, outdoor social events, sun, bronzed skin.

Wait a minute…. Sun? Bronzed skin? What are you thinking? Caught ya! See, I wasn’t really thinking that, I know better.

Are you still stuck in the mind set that a Beach Beauty has to be a Bronzed Beauty?  So, so wrong.

Let’s think for a moment about what is beautiful when it comes to our skin. For myself, I think smooth, satiny silk skin. I think skin with a glow from within. Lovely, even tone and texture. Minimal wrinkles and lines. And importantly, skin the color you were born with.

What do you think when you consider what beautiful skin is?

Are you thinking bronzed, tanned skin? If you are you have some surprises to look forward to in the future. Are you aware that nearly all the signs of aging skin are caused by the sun (and tanning beds, don’t be fooled into thinking that is a safe option), followed by smoke and general neglect.

Here is what that bronzed tan skin will ‘gift’ you with in the future…  Leathery and/or crepe paper texture (that’s pretty… huh?) and dark spots. I was being nice, I mean age spots  (ohh, those are nice). Larger patches of discoloration (even nicer). Wrinkles, fine lines and sagging skin. Yup, that all sounds like just what you want, right?

And I didn’t even mention skin cancer. Some types of it can be fatal…. Hmm..

Still think Bronzed Beauty is cool? Are ya nuts?

Sorry, not trying to be obnoxious. It just sort of comes over me when I think about all the young women out there that think tans are sexy, healthy and beautiful.

Of course there are older women who think that way, too. And they are all complaining about the early onset of the signs of aging.

We are all going to get wrinkles and lines. Unfortunate and true. You can not fully avoid them. But you can reduce their appearance, as I have told you before. And you can put them off for a while by taking really good care of your skin. Genetics play a part here as well, some of us just show aging earlier in life than others.

So, ask yourself this..  Do you want to speed up that process? Do you want to look older than you actually are?

Because you will. Speed up the process. Look older than you are. If you continue to tan.

Ouch, that hurts, huh? So what are you going to do? Stay out of the sun? Protect your skin?

Not so long ago we didn’t have all the incredible sun protection products available to us.  I am old enough (grrrr) to remember when these products started showing up. And I remember when it first hit the news just exactly what exposure to the sun can do to your skin. And yes, I had already had my share of tan, bronzed skin. Most of us over the age of 40 have.

So hey! You young ones! Get the heck out of the sun. Or enjoy it sparingly. Use sunscreen. What will happen if you don’t is just not pretty. And yeah, I know it is hard to think of yourself as an older woman. It was for me, too. Yet here I am, thankfully.

And I got lucky. Because once I knew better than to tan to my hearts desire, I chose to use sunscreen, limit exposure and start using good quality  skin care that contains anti-aging ingredients.

Result? Smooth skin with few wrinkles. Yes, of course I have some. Like I said, you can not fully avoid them. But you can minimize the attack, so to speak.

Believe me? Or are you still going to go to the beach with your SPF 2? Or none at all? Leaving that beach umbrella at home? No, no and no. Please?

Try to rethink what beautiful skin is. Take some steps to preserve that beauty. Take some steps to reverse a bit of the damage you may already have with anti-aging ingredients.  Treat your unhappy skin cells with some good stuff.

Check out other posts here to learn just what ingredients help, how to minimize and repair skin cell damage. Learn about sunscreen and what SPF really means. It’s all here.

And you there.. back under that umbrella, babycakes.

Photo by mOthyyku