Beauty For You

Most people love to be outdoors on a sunny day and having a nice tan is a sign of vitality and attractiveness. Even during winter more and more people go to tanning places to maintain their skin color year round and now that summer is finally here going to the beach and sunbathing is very high on peoples’ favorite spare time activities. However, as many positive effects sun light has on our bodies, it also can have a damaging effect on our skin, especially on the very sensitive facial skin.

When I say sun damage I mean the negative impact too much unprotected exposure to sun light can have on the look, feel and health of our skin. This sun damage is caused by UV rays. Sun light consists of two different kinds of UV rays, UVA and UVB. UVB rays are the cause of sunburns. UVA rays however, are not only responsible for excessive skin aging, but can also lead to skin cancer.

Most people will not give up tanning, outdoors activities or go outside only with all their skin covered despite the risks involved. The good news is: sun light CAN have a damaging effect on your skin, but it doesn’t have to. There are several ways you can protect your skin from sun damage such as premature aging, wrinkles, sun blotches and changes in the pigmentation. Especially if you spend a lot of time exposed to sun light, like spending your days at the beach, running marathons or working outside you should heed the following advise.

• Always use a sunscreen, sun blocker or sun crème. Ask your pharmacist or dermatologist which UV protection your skin needs. A thumb rule is: the lighter the skin type, the higher the protection needed to prevent sun damage.

• Enrich your diet and use skincare products that have soy components in them. Soy can smooth and moisturize the skin and also helps against sun blotches by evening the overall skin tone.

• The sun can damage the skin by causing so called oxidative stress through free radicals. This can lead to wrinkles and sagging skin. After exposing your skin to sunlight you should use an after sun lotion or similar skincare product that contains the vitamins C and E. These vitamins counter oxidative stress and help the skin repair previous sun damage.

• Chemical Peels: skincare products that help the skin rejuvenate and regenerate itself by shedding its’ outer layer. The skin is noticeably smoother and softer after a peeling. However, you should not do a peeling after a long day in the sun as the skin is already stressed.

• Microdermabrasion: Microdermabrasion machines lightly scrape away minute surface skin particles and stimulate the growth and rejuvenation of skin cells. This reduces the look of fine wrinkles and skin discoloration, improving skin texture, and ever-increasing skin sparkle. Multiple treatments are typically needed. Most spas offer microdermabrasion treatments. However the cost for one treatment lies between $100-$200 and one treatment alone is not enough, the process has to be repeated periodically in order to achieve a lasting improvement. An excellent alternative are home spa kits like the Fyola Face Massager that cannot only be used for microdermabrasion but also help the vitamins and nutrients in skincare products to penetrate deep into the skin where they are most needed. It is clinically proven that using skincare products with the Fyola increases their effectiveness up to 70%.

There are more invasive measures that can be taken in order to treat sun damage. These include non prescription and prescription medication and cosmetic treatments such as laser treatments as well as BoTox, collagen and fat injections. Personally, I am of the opinion that the less medication the better, no matter if it’s over the counter or not. As for injections: I think even if they do achieve their goal of smoothing wrinkles and fine lines it mostly looks very unnatural (one only think of poor Mickey Rourke), the treatments are very expensive and also have to be repeated after a time. For me the bottom line is: enjoy the sun, but with care, and use natural, non-invasive ways to help your skin protect itself from sun damage.