So we all know the sun isn’t great for our skin. It causes fine lines, wrinkles, sun spots, leathery skin, etc. Most of us know we probably should be wearing sunscreen, but it’s just SO nice to be tan in the summer! Plus, people are just so paranoid about sun exposure, you gotta live a little right? How much damage can really be done by laying out in the sun?
A lot, actually.
As a medical spa in Orem, we have seen our fair share of people who LOVED the sun growing up, and are now paying the price.
Check out the picture above. This is a real picture of a man who was a truck driver for 30 years. He had major sun damage, just from getting exposure through the window. You can see a significant difference between the left and right side of his face. Since he was driving a majority of the day, the left side of his face was exposed to the sun much more often than his right side. You can tell that the wrinkles on his left side are much more prominent. After years of exposure, it finally started showing in a dramatic way.
Not only does the sun have damaging effects on the way we look, excessive sun exposure causes skin cancer! Did you know that melanoma is the most common form of cancer in the US? More people are diagnosed with skin cancer every year than those diagnosed with breast cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer and lung cancer…Combined!
And that, my friends, is why we wear this little thing called SUNSCREEN.
Sunscreen is an extremely important step when trying to prevent premature skin aging, sun spots, and of course, Melanoma.
Here are a few tips to help you protect you skin from the damaging effects of the sun.
1) Make sure you are wearing a high quality sunscreen EVERY DAY! Rain or shine, you are still getting exposure to the sun, so make sure you are putting it on daily. Our favorite is SkinCeuticals Sheer Physical UV Defense SPF 50. It’s a broad spectrum sunscreen, which means it protects you from both UVA and UVB rays.
2) Use an Antioxident! Antioxidents protect your skin from the inside out, giving you much more protection than just a sunscreen would. The more protection you have, the better your skin will look! We recommend SkinCeuticals CE Ferulic.
3) Your Makeup should NOT replace you daily sunscreen. Even if it has SPF in it, it’s not protecting you like a good sunscreen would. Generally you need to use 7-14 times the normal amount of powder of foundation to get the full SPF.
4)Make sure you apply sunscreen a least 30 minutes before sun exposure. You need to make there is time for your sunscreen to be absorbed before you are exposed to the rays of the sun.
5)Apply enough Sunscreen! In order to get full SPF protection, make sure you are applying enough product. And 1 application for a full day at the beach is not enough. Make sure you are reapplying at least every 2 hours.
For more questions about what you can do to protect your skin from the sun, give us a call at 801-229.2229.