Skin Cancer Awareness Month (May)

The best anti-aging advice that we at Derma Revive Skincare can give anyone is to wear SPF everyday in the summer and winter months. Many of us reach for sunscreen when it’s sunny, but did you know that UVA, visible light and infrared-A can damage your skin all year round? All these rays are emitted by the sun and are powerful enough to penetrate cloud and glass – so even on the cloudiest days, our skin is still at risk. We recommend that a SPf be worn every morning as part of your daily skincare routine. Beauty is skin deep and so is skin cancer, so be smart and wear a sunscreen. Using sunscreen helps lower your exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light and decreases your risk of skin cancer.

THE IMPORTANCE OF DAILY SUN PROTECTION

UVA and UVB rays both damage skin cells and their DNA, leading to fine lines, wrinkles, thinned skin, loss of elasticity (ageing), irregular pigmentation (hyperpigmentation), visible vessels, and skin cancer. They can also worsen the appearance of acne scaring, and reduce the healing time of acne lesions.

  • Short-term DNA damage by the sun presents as a tan and sunburn. 
  • Unprotected daily UV exposure causes photoageing.
  • Photoageing accounts for about 90% of the signs of skin ageing.
  • The two main types of damaging rays are UVB and UVA.

UVB
Vary according to season and weather conditions.
More intense in the summer and at high altitudes.
Main cause of tan and sunburn.
Blocked by glass and clouds
Account for only 5% of UV rays that reach the earth.
Damage the skin’s more superficial epidermal layers.

UVA
Present 365 days a year.
Equal intensity during ALL daylight hours.
Play a major role in photoageing.
Can pass through glass and clouds.
Account for 95% of UV rays that reach the earth.
Able to penetrate into the deeper skin layers (dermis)
Affect collagen, elastin and blood vessels.

The image below shows the the UVA and UVB difference on the skin.

  • A sunscreen’s Sun Protection Factor (SPF) indicates how protected you are from burning by UVB rays.
  • Day creams and foundations commonly boast a SPF15. This SPF often is provided by chemical sunscreen filters like oxybenzone.
  • Oxybenzone is known to breakdown in the skin when exposed to daylight  reducing your UVB protection. This means, your foundation or day cream may only be protecting your skin from burning for a few hours after application.

AlumierMD broad spectrum sunscreens only contain mineral sunscreen filters zinc oxide and titanium dioxide. They both have an excellent safety profile, are reef safe and do not absorb into the bloodstream or break down in daylight.
Wearing a zinc based, broad spectrum sunscreen by AlumierMD defends your skin against burning UVB rays and ageing UVA rays for longer periods. All AlumierMD sunscreens have a SPF of 40 or higher, only allowing 2.5% of UV rays to penetrate the skin preventing the signs of ageing and safeguarding the clinical outcomes from your aesthetic treatments.

Obagi Sunscreens are formulated to prevent sunburn and protect your skin. Guarding against the damaging rays of the sun helps to prevent the visible signs of ageing, such as: 

Fine lines, wrinkles, dry Skin, sun spots, sallowness and poor skin tone.