Use Sun Screen!

The most effective anti aging product is often totally overlooked by consumers. If you are looking for a way to slow the aging process and decrease the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, begin with sun screen. Sun screen is truly the most overlooked anti wrinkle cosmetic on the market. While it is true that premature aging is a genetic trait and some people are simply genetically predisposed to age earlier than others, shielding your skin from the ultraviolet light of the sun with sunscreen will help prevent the appearance of aging.

Ultraviolet rays emitted from the sun travel at various wavelengths. UV rays fall into three categories: UVA, UVB and UVC. UVC rays are not considered damaging as they are normally absorbed within the atmosphere and don’t reach the surface of the earth. In contrast, UVA and UVB rays do make their way through the atmosphere to reach our skin. In general it is the UVB rays that cause sunburn. Even though UVB rays do not extend to the deep layers of skin, they are harmful to the outer skin layers and cause cancer over time. UVA rays reach to the deep layers of the skin where they have been shown to effectively accelerate aging of the skin. Both UVA and UVB are known to cause wrinkles and intensify the appearance of aging.

Many people think of using sunscreen only when planning a day at the beach or on the golf course. If you want to preserve your skin’s youthful appearance, always apply sunscreen when you will be out in the daylight hours. It does not matter whether you are just walking from the office to a restaurant for lunch or if you are jogging three miles in the park, apply sunscreen every time you are outside. Even on overcast days it is important to wear sunscreen as UV light penetrates the cloud layer and is still capable of damaging your skin. If at all possible, avoid being out from 10am to 4pm when UV light is at its worst. It’s also important to wear a hat to protect the delicate skin on your face. After swimming or sweating profusely, be sure to reapply your sunscreen.

A quality sunscreen offers sufficient protection from damaging UV rays. Sunscreens contain a variety of ingredients which combine to work in unison to prevent harmful rays from penetrating your skin.

Mexoryl is an FDA approved organic compound found in some sunscreens. It is a photo stable compound highly effective for filtering UVA rays. Mexoryl does not cover the whole UV spectrum and it is normally mixed with other active sunscreen compounds like titanium dioxide to provide full UV spectrum protection.

The most common way to identify a sunscreen’s strength is through the SPF number. SPF is the abbreviation for sun protection factor; this SPF number is indicative of the protective strength of the sunscreen. The higher the SPF number, the higher the value of protection the sunscreen offers. Most of us automatically reach for the highest SPF value when we are buying our sunscreen. Next time, be aware that SPF only indicates the protective level against UVB rays. SPF does not indicate the sunscreens ability to protect against UVA light and as we discussed earlier, it is UVA rays that are the most harmful. Next time you buy sunscreen, along with a high SPF value, buy products that contain Meroxyl so that you are protected from UVA rays as well as UVB.

Whenever you leave the house remember to apply your sunscreen. You can use every expensive anti aging cream in the world, but without the daily use of sunscreen, it will all be quickly reversed and ineffective in the long fight against aging.

Wrinkle Prevention