Skin Care: Sun Protection & Sun Block

Skin Care Step 4: Sun Protection and Ultraviolet Light

Two major causes of wrinkles are: normal aging and sun exposure. 90% of your wrinkles or symptoms of premature skin aging are caused by exposure to ultraviolet light, UVA or UVB.

UV light exposure erodes the skin’s support structure. It causes collagen to break down at a faster rate than normal aging. It damages collagen fibers and stimulate the production of abnormal elastin.

When the sun-induced elastin accumulates, enzymes called metalloproteinases are produced. The normal function these enzymes are to repair the sun-injured tissue by producing and reforming collagen. How I wish this is a perfect process, unfortunately, it isn't.

During the repairing process some of these enzymes do break down collagen causing the formation of disorganized collagen fibers. Overtime the imperfect rebuilding process cause wrinkles to develop.

Exposure to UV light can lead to dark spot, and turn your skin yellowish. Chronic sun exposure can give your skin a thick and leathery texture. This happens because your body tries to thicken the top layer of your skin in an attempt to block UV rays.

UV Light - UVA and UVB Light

Ultraviolet light emits from the sun are divided into categories based on the wavelength.

• UVC - 100 to 290 nanometer
• UVB - 290 to 320 nanometer
• UVA - 320 to 400 nanometer

Until recently, it was believed that UVB was the main type of UV light that cause skin cancer. Although scientists knew that UVA penetrated the skin more deeply than UVB, but UVA was thought to be less carcinogenic because it was thought that UVA photons were less likely to be absorbed by the DNA and cause critical mutations.

While many of us are drenching ourselves with sun block lotions, the increase in skin cancer rates puzzled researchers. When researchers looked at the effects of UVB and UVA on the DNA from two types of skin cancer cells, they found that UVA caused more mutations in a critical part of the skin than previously thought.

It is now believed that while sun protection products protect our skin from UVB rays, the effect of UVA has been underestimated, and UVA is the cause of our skin problems.

What Does SPF Mean

SPF stands for Sun Protection Factor and the number tells you how much protection the sun block product will provide. If your skin normally turned pink after 10 minutes of exposure to the sun, proper use of a sun block with SPF 15 you can remain in the sun for 150 minutes (10 * 15) before you start burning.

Sun protection lotion do wear off. It does not stay on your skin for the full 150 minutes. You need to reapplied sun block lotion regularly.

UVB and UVA Sun Screen Lotion

Only zinc oxide and titanium dioxide sunscreens are considered by the FDA to offer sufficient protection from UVA and UVB rays. Only buy sunscreen lotion that has zinc oxide and titanium dioxide listed as active ingredients.

Sun Protection Factor: How much sun protection do you need?

You need apply sun block for at least 20 minutes before going outdoor. This give your skin a chance to absorb the active ingredients. And you do need to wear sun screen even on cloudy days or in the dead of winter (UV light do comes through the clouds).

For normal exposure, a sunscreen lotion with SPF 15 is sufficient. But if you're spending a lot of time outdoor or a day at the beach you would need a sunscreen lotion with higher SPF.

Best Sunscreen Lotion

A drugstore brand sunscreen lotion will give you the same protection as you would get from an upscale product. But many cheaper brands may dry or irritate your skin.

My day moisturizer and foundation both has SPF 15, so I use a drug store brand sun block lotion for other exposed skin. If you're looking for sunscreen lotion for your face, consider a more expensive sunscreen lotion that are less likely to irritate your skin.