Experts say the best way to stay protected from the sun is to stay out of the sun during its hottest hours (generally 11am-3pm, or when it’s directly overhead), and to re-apply sunscreen every two hours. They will tell you to look for sunscreens with the ingredients of either Zinc Oxide, Titanium Dioxide, Avobenzene (parsol 1789), or Mexoryl. Zinc Oxide and Titanium Dioxide are physical blockers, while Avobenzene and Mexoryl and chemical blockers.
Q: What type of sunscreen should I use, and what ingredients should I look for?
A: There are so many types of sunscreen that selecting the right one can be quite confusing.
• Avobenzone (parsol 1789),
• Cinoxate
• Ecamsule
• Menthyl anthranilate
• Octyl methoxycinnamate
• Octyl salicylate
• Oxybenzone
• Sulisobenzone
• Titanium dioxide
• Zinc oxide
BurnOut 18.6% Zinc Oxide Sunblock / SPF 32 for Sensitive Skin
To get a bit technical, you want your sunscreen to protect you against UVA and UVB rays. UVA is what is responsible for aging your skin, giving you wrinkles, and skin cancer. UVB is what causes your skin to darken and burn. While all the information I read is a bit conflicting, here is a general idea of how the wavelengths of UVA and UVB breakdown:
UVB (burning) has a wavelength range (in nanometers) of:
280-320
UVA (aging) has a wavelength range (in nanometers) of:
320-400
To get the best sun protection, you want your sunscreen to contain ingredients that cover as wide a range as possible in the 280-400 spectrum. Here’s how a few of the best and most common sunscreen ingredients breakdown:
Zinc Oxide 290-380
Mexoryl 290-400
Avobenzene 340-375
Titanium Dioxide 290-340
Octinoxate and Octisalate 280-320
Oxybenzone 320-240
Now many sunscreens combine ingredients to cover a wider range of the spectrum. However, you can see that Zinc Oxide and Mexoryl cover the widest spectrum all by themselves, and they are photo-stable ingredients. This is extremely important, because it means your sunscreen won’t lose effectiveness an hour after you apply it like Avobenzene, for example, which is not photo-stable. Neutrogena and some other companies use Helioplex, or other ingredients to make their Avobenzene more photostable. I haven’t experimented with these ingredients, but I doubt they are as photo-stable as Zinc Oxide or Mexoryl.
Many new sunscreen ingredients that are approved in Japan and Europe, such as Mexoryl XL, Tinosorb M, Tinosorb S, Uvinil T 150, Uvasorb HEB, and Parsol SLX, have not been approved by the FDA for use in new sunscreens in the United States.
Showing posts with label skin cancer foundation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label skin cancer foundation. Show all posts
Friday, July 15, 2011
Friday, May 6, 2011
The Fountain of Youth is how you handle the SUN
The sun’s UVA light is the #1 cause of premature aging in women and men and that 90 percent of wrinkles are caused by the sun? So now you know the #1 way to protect your skin against aging is SUNSCREEN.
The Skin Cancer Foundation recommends these PCA sun protection products as effective agents in the prevention of sun-induced skin damage.
- Weightless Protection
SPF 45 - Perfecting Protection
SPF 30 - Protecting Hydrator
SPF 30 - Hydrator Plus
SPF 30 - Active Very Water/Sweat Resistant
SPF 45
Make sure your sun products contain one or more of these ingredients:
- zinc oxide,
- titanium dioxide
- avobenzone or ecampsule (MexorylTM
Chemical peels help to reduce the appearance of premature aging and are performed on the face, neck, or hands. They can be used to:
- Reduce fine lines under the eyes and around the mouth
- Treat wrinkles caused by sun damage, aging, and family history
- Improve the appearance of mild scarring
- Treat certain types of acne
- Reduce age spots, freckles, and dark patches due to pregnancy or taking birth control pills (melasma)
- Improve the look and feel of skin that is dull in texture and color
Microdermabrasion can make your skin look younger and smoother, as well. Although a great diet, plenty of water, and daily exercise help your skin to be shining and radiant
By removing a top layer of skin, microdermabrasion stimulates the skin to increase cell turnover and to produce collagen, which turns into softer, younger looking skin.
So keep the sunscreen handy as well as the hat and sunglasses – be good to your skin and you will keep that youthful look longer.
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