Beauty And The Blog

Like to get out when the weather is warm? Ever thought about how the sun and warm weather, at home or on vacation, can affect how you age?

Sunscreen can slow the aging of your skin. By now pretty much everyone should know that. And those of you who are over 30 will be seeing pretty obvious changes in your skin if you have neglected the use of a good sunscreen.

Sunscreen is an anti-aging treatment! It is your first line of defense for anti-aging. Even if you are young you should be thinking about anti-aging and the role sunscreen plays in it. If you are over 30 and didn’t use sunscreen as a younger woman, you may well be wishing you did! If that is the case, start using sunscreen now if you haven’t already. And for any damage that you are seeing as a result of not using sunscreen, fine lines, wrinkles, discoloration, etc., there are products available to start you on your way back to more youthful skin.

When I was younger there was not a lot available as far as products to prevent or slow the aging process. We didn’t even know the role sunscreen can play in the prevention of visible signs of aging. Sunscreen as we know it today wasn’t on the market! And free radicals? No one knew they existed. We all used baby oil and got as dark as we could. Especially if you grew up in a warm climate where the beach was available year round, like I did! Suppose you could chalk that up to “if I only knew then what I know now”!

All women, even in your teens and 20′s, should absolutely be using a sunscreen of at least SPF 15 on a daily basis. This could be a separate product, a product combining daily moisturizer with an SPF or it could be your foundation makeup in a formula that includes SPF.

If you are having a day in the sun, at the beach, on a boat, whatever, you should use at least an SPF 30. All people, male, female, older and younger, even babies (with an appropriate formulation intended for infant use) should be protected with sunscreen. It isn’t just about anti aging. It’s about your health. There has been a rise in reported cases of malignant melanoma in the USA and these cases are occurring in younger people more so than ever before. An increase in other types of skin cancer has also been reported. Many sources credit Tanning Bed use with this increase. So, please, stay the heck out of those awful things! Exposure to ultraviolet rays is not only aging it is a serious health risk.

As far as the anti-aging angle on it, you may think,”I don’t have wrinkles, why should I worry about that now?” Well, because the sun is one of the fastest ways to age your skin. And you don’t see the result of your unprotected daily exposure or the days of fun in the sun until much later.

How’s that? It is because it starts in the deepest layer of your skin. Cells way down deep begin to change, they do not duplicate themselves in the same way when the DNA has suffered damage from over exposure to the sun (there are other damaging factors as well). Sun, and those other factors, create free radicals in the skin that attack our healthy skin cells and then, yikes, wrinkles!

Wrinkles! Because damaged cells, cells attacked by free radicals can not continue to produce that same smooth youthful surface. Unprotected exposure to the sun can reduce and damage collagen and elastin. So if you are young, start now with that sunscreen, use a good quality gentle cleanser, toner and moisturizer. Be sure to remove all makeup at night and use a night cream that has restorative ingredients. And those would be anti-oxidants, such as vitamin C, E and A. All women should follow the same routine! Men as well, but they can skip the make up removal step, in most cases anyway!

There are a lot of different ingredients used in sunscreens to block the sun. The first thing you need to know is to use a broad spectrum sunscreen. One that blocks both UVA and UVB rays from the sun. UVB rays are the burning and aging rays. UVA rays are the ones that can cause skin cancers by depleting the skin’s natural immune protection.

As far as ingredients go, the most effective are Octinoxate, Octisalate, Avobenzone and Oxybenzone. These are all synthetic ingredients. If you are concerned with using a natural mineral based sunscreen look for Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide. There has also been some research including anti-oxidants (Vitamin C and E) in sunscreen. It appears that they boost the effectiveness of the other ingredients and fight free radicals at the same time.

When thinking about which SPF to choose, remember that the number reflects the amount of time you are protected. Not the strength of the product. For example, if you burn in 5 minutes without sunscreen, an SPF 15 will keep you protected for 15x longer, so that is 75 minutes. Keep that in mind!

When enjoying the beach, the pool and water sports be sure to use sunscreen that is water resistant, and don’t forget to reapply after prolonged time in the water and toweling off.

Great skin later is simple if you start young! And if you aren’t so young, and you are seeing the results of free radical damage, think about  getting back on track now and regain beautiful skin.

Have fun in the sun, but protect yourself! And by the way, winter sports require sunscreen, too. Lots of rays reflecting off that snow!