SPF is your BFF

To protect itself from the damaging effects of the sun, your skin increases its production of the dark brown pigment called melanin. The extra melanin makes your skin look darker or sun-tanned. In some cases, the sun causes an uneven increase in melanin production, which produces irregular coloring or pigmentation of the skin. The sun can also cause a permanent stretching (dilation) of small blood vessels, giving your skin a mottled, reddish appearance.

Your skin changes with age. That's about a lifetime of sun exposure, personal habits such as smoking and diet, and changes that happen with normal aging. As you get older, you may notice your skin isn't as smooth or tight as it once was. It may also be drier, more fragile, and thinner than it used to be. With age, skin may also bruise more easily, due to loss of support around blood vessel walls that happens with age.Below the skin's surface, losing fat in your cheeks, temples, chin, nose, and around your eyes may loosen skin and give your face a leaner look. If you lose bone around your mouth and chin, the skin around your mouth may pucker. Even the nose may change, if you lose cartilage there. You may notice "lines" on your face, as early as your 30s and 40s, that result from the expressions you make. These include horizontal lines on your forehead and small, curved lines on your temples, upper cheeks, and around your mouth. Even gravity plays a role. When the skin becomes less elastic, gravity makes eyebrows and eyelids droop, creates looseness and fullness under the cheeks and jaw (jowls and "double chin"), and lengthens ear lobes.You can't fight gravity. But there are other factors that you control, especially how you protect your skin from the sun and whether you smoke.

Over time, the sun's ultraviolet (UV) light damages certain fibers in the skin called elastin. The breakdown of elastin fibers causes the skin to sag, stretch, and lose its ability to snap back after stretching. The skin also bruises, tears more easily, and takes longer to heal. So while sun damage may not show when you're young, it will later in life.

Nothing can completely undo sun damage, although the skin can sometimes repair itself. So, it's never too late to begin protecting yourself from sun exposure and skin cancer. You can delay changes associated with aging by limiting your time in the sun, especially between the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., and wearing sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or more. Also, wear clothing to cover skin exposed to the sun, such as long-sleeved shirts, pants, broad-brimmed hats and sunglasses. Smokers tend to have more wrinkles than nonsmokers of the same age, complexion, and history of sun exposure.

SPF stands for Sun Protection Factor. The higher the SPF number, the better protection against the sun's harmful UVB rays. The SPF number lets you know how much longer you can stay out of the sun without burning. For example, if it takes 15 minutes for a person to burn, an SPF 15 will allow them to stay out in the sun 15 times longer without burning. The American Academy of Dermatology recommends wearing an SPF of 15 or higher for maximum protection. SPF is available in levels from 2 to 60. Does highest mean the best protection? Not necessarily. An SPF of 50 only provides 1% to 2% more protection than an SPF 30. 

The label of the sunscreen will indicate the UVA or UVB protection. 

UVA rays are responsible for the aging effect of the sun; however, overexposure to UVA rays can cause skin cancer.

UVB rays are responsible for sunburns and skin cancer. 

Choose a product that states, "UVA/UVB," protection or has "broad spectrum" protectant.

Below are a few slides of how UV damage effects the skin. No one likes the aging effects of the sun and if that's not enough to motivate you to protect yourself then skin cancer should be. Remember, your skin is your LARGEST organ of your body. PROTECT it, NOURISH it. 

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Uneven pigmentation

Damage to darker skin

Solar lentigines on the forehead

Solar lentigines on the back

Labial lentigo

Solar elastosis

Melasma

Poikiloderma

Actinic keratoses

Lentigo maligna

Starting with a facial in a professional environment is best to achieve the best possible results in your skin. We thoroughly cleanse and analyze your skin and help educate you on what you need to be doing to take care of your skin. And it's not just the face, we focus on the neck and the decolletage, as the skin there is very thin and suffers the most from UV damage as well. Make an appointment today and together let's put your best skin forward!

~Ashley, Esthetician with Le Reve Organic Spa and Boutique