Sunscreen. Every. Single. Day. Skin cancer is on the rise, sadly one in five Americans will develop skin cancer. According to http://www.skincancer.org, it is diagnosed as many times as breast, prostate, lung AND colon cancers combined! Not to mention, the wrinkles… yeah, yeah, yeah we’ve heard it all before. But we love our sun-kissed skin!
It’s safe to say that we all know that we should apply sunscreen every single day. But do you know why? Obvs, we stay out of the sun to avoid a painful burn. But there is so much more to it than that. Plain and simple… A sunburn is an inflammatory response to trauma of the skin. The sun’s rays are not just giving you that natural glow, they are damaging skin many layers deep. UV rays are able to penetrate through glass and clouds and cause all sorts of free radical damage. They are directly responsible for the lines and spots on your face. The sun’s rays destroy the collagen and elastin which causes wrinkles and sagging.
Chances are that anyone born in the 20th century did not wear enough sunscreen as a child. Those of us in our 30’s and up are waking up to sun damage that happened 10-20 years ago. Photoaging (sun damage) that we do today will show up on our faces in about a decade from now in the form of wrinkled, sagging and pigmented skin. Don’t believe me? Take a quick look at your naked booty. Since it hasn’t seen the light of day, it is not wrinkled, sagging and pigmented. It is never too late to begin sun care routine.
Even though the FDA lags behind Europe in approving the latest and greatest sunscreen ingredients, there are still many options as far as ingredients go. There are two main types of sunscreen, absorbing chemical and reflecting physical. If you believe that you should not use any sunscreen because of its potentially harmful ingredients, you could be dead wrong, literally. True, some sunscreens have questionable ingredients, but there are many, many brands and formulations to choose from. Some contain anti-oxidant vitamins C&E which help with free radical damage. Physical sunscreens which list zinc and titanium dioxide as their main active ingredients are made from natural minerals and are generally safer, even on sensitive skin. For the best protection, look for a sunscreen with an SPF of 30 that says Broad Spectrum.
Sunscreen. Every. Single. Day.
skin by joni 