save my skin now?

The best way to keep your skin healthy is to prevent sun damage. This also means no tanning in tanning beds.

Think Hats, sunglasses, umbrellas and sunblock!

I wear Ocean Potion Face SunBlock SPF 45 with clear zinc everyday. And for my body I use Ocean Potion Anti Aging sunblock SPF 30 - It has an awesome citris smell to it.

Here is a little Suncare 101 from ivillage.com

We have two forms of sunlight, the visible one and the invisible sunlight. The invisible form has the ultraviolet light type A and type B, which are our major concern. What they can produce is suntan, sunburn, skin cancer, premature aging, also eye damage, like cataracts, damage to the immune system, and even allergic reactions.

We originally thought that UVB was the one that caused skin cancer, and we always remember B for bad. And later one, we found out that UVA also causes skin cancer, as well. So now that we know that both UVA and UVB cause skin cancer, they’re both in tanning salons. And originally they used mostly UVB, they switched to UVA, and now we know that both rays cause skin cancer, and tanning salons contain both rays, so it can potentially cause skin cancer, as well.

UVB is a much stronger radiation than UVA, and UVB is more absorbed by the epidermis than the deeper dermis where UVA is absorbed. In terms of your average daylight., around twelve noon is the strongest sun of the day, most of us know that, it’s about 90% UVB at twelve noon. Earlier in the day it’s more UVA, towards the end of the day it’s UVA as well. So UVB is a much stronger radiation, however, UVA can cause skin cancer, as well.

Everybody asks, “Well, what kind of sun protection should I wear?” But the most important concept is, nothing is more important than avoiding the sun. if you cannot avoid the sun, apply sunscreen, but nothing is going to be as good a protection. Sunscreen is never going to be as good as being outside from the sun. So the number one recommendation is avoid the sun, and on top of that, apply sunscreen.

There’s a false sense, given a little bit by the media, that the tan is healthy. That’s why when you have an ad on any sunscreen, you have a model that has a perfect suntan. So you have to question yourself: if the sunscreen is so good, why is the model tan?

See the full article here (there’s 4 more pages!)

http://ivillagehealth.healthology.com/webcast_transcript.asp?b=ivillagehealth&f=skinhealth&c=skinhealth_101&spg=XML

Also in the last issue of Women’s Health and of Cosmopolitan Magazines there are wonderful articles about skincare and the sun.