Rejuvenating Your Appearance: Matching Your Year-round Sunscreen to Your Skin Type

Cartoon courtesy of greengenie.ca.

We all feel good when our skin looks healthy, but looking in the mirror and seeing sun damage can definately damper a mood.

The good news is that no matter how much exposure your skin has endured, there are steps you can take to rejuvenate it.

With improved nutrition to create new healthier skin and some sunscreen, everyone’s skin can look better. The best nutritional advice is to increase the amount of fruits and vegetables you eat, as well as whole grains, and less red meat. Limit processed foods. It’s common sense advice, but makes a world of difference.

When it comes to sunscreen, that’s a little more complicated. First, you have to understand what the sun does to different skin types, then you can decide what sunscreen best meets your needs.

Premature Aging and Skin Cancer

The experts agree that premature aging is a long-term side effect of UV exposure. It may show on your skin after years of sunburns and suntans. Unprotected exposure to harmful UV rays break down collagen and elastin fibers in healthy young skin, and cause wrinkles and loosen folds. Frequent sunburns or hours spent tanning can also result in a permanent darkening of the skin, dark spots, and a leathery texture.

Another concern is skin cancer. FDA researchers say that UV radiation can promote skin cancer in the following two ways:

• By damaging the DNA in skin cells, causing the skin to grow abnormally and develop benign or malignant growths.
• By weakening the immune system and compromising the body’s natural defenses against aggressive cancer cells.

Possible signs of skin cancer include:

• Any change on your skin, especially in the size or color of a mole, birthmark, or other dark pigmentation .
• Unexplained scaliness, oozing, or bleeding on the skin’s surface.
• A spot on the skin that suddenly feels itchy, tender, or painful.

All Sunscreens Are Not Created Equal

All of the experts agree that - with few exceptions - everyone needs to wear some sort of sunscreen all-year round for optimal skin maintenance and health. HealthHype.com says that those that shouldn’t wear sunscreen are infants younger than six months old. They should wear a hat, sunglasses, and light colored clothing with a tight knit, so that sunlight can’t easily penetrate. Also, baby oil shouldn’t be used because it makes their skin more vulnerable to a sunburn.

People also shouldn’t wear sunscreen on areas where they have:

• An intense sunburn with blisters.
• An oozing skin infection.
• Open wounds.

For everyone else it depends largely on their skin type and sensitivities, though overall the best result comes from using a sunscreen with broad spectrum protection with an SPF factor of 15 or higher.

Also a rule of thumb for best results, apply the sunscreen 30 minutes before sun exposure and reapply every hour-and-a-half to two hours even on a cloudy day, and (in summer) after swimming or sweating.

People that need the strongest sun protection are those over age 50 and under age five because they are generally the most sensitive to the harmful effects of UV radiation, regardless of skin color.

Others that need to be especially careful in the sun are those who have:

• Pale skin.
• Blonde, red, or light brown hair.
• Been treated for skin cancer.
• A family member who’s had skin cancer.
• Those taking medications such as antibiotics, birth control pills, or benzoyl peroxide products (such as in acne medication) which may also increase skin sensitivity to UV in all skin types.

Also, although people with darker complexions are less likely to get skin cancer than people with lighter complexions, they can still develop malignancies and suffer all forms of UV damage.

Different Sunscreens For Varying Skin Types

HealthHype.com describes a number of different sunscreen categories that are worth mentioning for their skin type value.

Physical and Chemical Sunscreens

• Physical sunscreens - containing substances like zinc oxide or titanium oxide - reflect UV rays.
• Chemicals sunscreens - containing substances like oxybenzone - absorb UV rays.

Note: Many sunscreens combine physical and chemical sunscreens.

Organic and Natural Sunscreens

Organic and natural sunscreens claim that their products do not contain any chemicals, but what they really mean, according to HealthHype.com, is that they don’t contain oxybenzone and other UV absorbers. Organic and natural sunscreens use physical barriers.

Water Resistant Sunscreens

Water resistant sunscreens should retain their SPF after 40 minutes of immersion in water, and ‘very water resistant’ sunscreens should keep their effectiveness after 80 minutes of emersion.

Water resistant sunscreens are thick and not convenient for everyday use. No sunscreen is ‘waterproof,’ since every sunscreen is washed off after some period of time.

Sunscreens for Oily, Dry, or Sensitive Skin

Oily Skin - Oil-free (water-based or powdered) sunscreen are convenient.

Dry Skin - Sunscreens with moisturizers or oily sunscreens may be appropriate; alcohol-based ones should be avoided.

Sensitive Skin - Alcohol-free, fragrance-free, and purely physical sunscreens (containing only zinc oxide or titanium oxide as an active ingredient) are most appropriate.

With any sunscreen, a person may be susceptible to an allergic reaction, so it’s always best to use a small patch of skin to test the product the day before you are going to start using it for the first time.

Reader comments and input are always welcomed!