Sunscreen: Answers to Your Burning Questions

Sunscreen: Answers to Your Burning Questions

Why is Sunscreen Use so Important?

Skin cancer prevention is one of the most important reasons for using sunscreen. In fact there has been 3,500,000 new skin cancer cases in the U.S. alone this year (according to the American Cancer Society 2015). However, some people are still not concerned with this alarming threat of a potentially deadly disease unless they have already had a skin cancer scare themselves. Believe it or not in our society, especially women, we are more concerned about aging from harmful sun rays than getting skin cancer. So how do we protect ourselves from the Sun’s energy to avoid both aging and potential cancer? The sun has four types of energy that reach the earth. Visible light, Infrared radiation or IR, Ultraviolet A radiation or UVA and Ultraviolet B radiation or UVB. Visible light has very minimal effect on the skin and is pretty self-explanatory. Infrared Radiation is the heat we feel from the sunshine, the kind of energy that keeps us warm and feeling so great on a winter day. IR doesn’t burn our skin however it does release an abundance of free radicals which can still make those brown spots and sun damage appear. UVA is the aging radiation, it penetrates the furthest into our skin and is also able to go through clouds and glass. UVB is the burning radiation, meaning it tends to be more superficially damaging than UVA and cause reddening and sun burns in the epidermis (the outer most layer of your skin). While both UVA and UVB can aid in developing cancer, UVB plays a key role since it is the most superficial.

Protection Against the Energy

FDA now requires every sunscreen to be broad-spectrum, meaning protection against both UVA and UVB rays. The following ingredients are FDA approved active ingredients to protect against such radiation: Zinc Oxide which is a physical block and Avobenzone which is a chemical block, both of those ingredients are for protection against UVA. Titanium Dioxide which is a physical block, Octinoxate, Octisalate and Homosalate are all chemical blocks and used for protection against UVB among many others. A true synergy between physical and chemical sunscreens has been shown for better protection. As for protection against the free radicals that the IR gives us, theFDA doesn’t allow companies to advertise IR protection on their sunscreen labels. Antioxidants are the additional ingredients to look for in a sunscreen as it is the protection factor against free radical damage. As Revision Skincare states “It is beneficial to use a blend of antioxidants to neutralize the free radicals from IR.”  To give some examples of antioxidants to look for I will be referencing Revision Skincare’s Multi-Protection Broad-Spectrum SPF 50 and their Intellishade Broad-Spectrum SPF 45. Both of these sunscreens use Green Tea Extract, Coenzyme Q10, Vitamin C and Vitamin E to fight back and protect against the free radical damage.

Are Physical Sunscreens Better than Chemical Sunscreens?

Not necessarily. As stated previously, a union of both physical and chemical sunscreens has been shown for better protection. By mentioning the word chemical when used to describe something we put on our skin can set some people on edge. “Chemical” is instantly thought of as something that is unnatural, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t safe to use. In fact some natural things aren’t as great as they sound either. Arsenic is natural, yet no one considers ingesting that into our bodies! Not all “all-physical” sunscreens are truly all-physical either. The FDA has deemed chemical sunscreen to be safe.

What Sunscreen is Best?

An SPF 45-50 is recommended even for daily wear because it protects the skin for longer. On an average day we head to the office or our jobs and don’t think about reapplying sunscreen unless we are planning on being outside. One should always reapply but the advantage of using a higher SPF is that you wouldn’t have to reapply as often. Definitely a broad-spectrum sunscreen and preferably one with a blend of antioxidants, especially when used for the face is what we would advise. In my personal opinion, I would always recommend the Intellishade Matte or Original. Revision Skincare’s Intellishade not only has SPF 45 but it is also a broad-spectrum sunscreen with a blend of antioxidants as discussed earlier. Besides those already great aspects of this sunscreen, Intellishade also is a tinted moisturizer that moisturizes and blends naturally with the color of your skin. It reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, fights photodamage which causes premature skin aging and the Matte formula contains the latest pore-minimizing technology! Outsmart the signs of aging. Talk with your skin care specialist about starting your Intellishade regimen today.