Anti-Aging Tip #6
Tuesday, November 10th, 2009
Wear Sun Screen
This should have been the first Anti-Aging tip, but I didn’t want it to get lost in the melee.
Badly damaging skin due to unprotected exposure to the sun’s UV rays is the greatest way to accelerate your skin’s aging process.
The best anti-aging advice anyone can give is to avoid excessive sun exposure and at the very least, wear a broad spectrum sun screen that protects against both UVA and UVB rays.
Everyone should wear sunscreen daily, SPF 15 minimum. Lighter skin types, Fitzpatrick skin types (I, II and III), should wear sunscreen containing a minimum of SPF 20.
Exposure to ultraviolet radiation emitted by the sun, even in small daily doses, results in free radical action on skin that enables the destruction of natural collagen and elastin fibres in skin, causing skin to lose elasticity and tone, as well as develop wrinkles, crows feet and frown lines.
We live in modern times. There are many types of sunscreen products in various formulations/ weights in creams, lotions and fluids. No longer does sunscreen have to smell of bananas and coconuts, be oily, or cause acne breakouts. There are formations that incorporate sunscreen into moisturizers and foundations. Alternatively sunscreen can be worn alone or under makeup. There are sunscreens formulated for the face and others formulated for the body. The options are endless.
It may be cute and ‘cool’ to bake in the sun and live in tanning beds when we are young, but not so cute to have to consider replacing the lost collagen in our skin when we are older, by the use of injectable fillers or surgical procedures.
Though darker skin types are better protected against the damaging sun’s rays, they are not immune to aging.
So really, there is no excuse to not wearing it.
Playing russian roulette with your skin health is so 80′s.
For more on Sun Screens see post Sun and Skin Types
Lotion up!
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