The ART in FIRE

Summertime Sun-U-cation

Fashion This
By Suzy Renteria

Tanning is a topic friends and clients bring to my attention almost daily.  They want to be reassured that sun exposure or tanning beds are safe. I always ask them three questions. Do you know what oxidation is? Do you understand what radiation does when absorbed into the skin? And do you feel protection against premature aging and cancer is important to you?  I usually get two no’s and a yes, which leads me to believe that most people have yet to understand the importance of sun care and why educating yourself is beneficial.

A decade or two ago Americans began monitoring blood pressure and cholesterol as a regular routine.  Now we shop at whole foods or the natural section of the grocery store to avoid chemicals in our foods and are choosing natural cleaning supplies to stay healthier. I believe making changes in how we care for and protect our skin will soon be lifestyle changing. Sun protection and the understanding of UV exposure are critical to our health in many ways. Safe Sun should be as profound as Safe Sex.
What does this mean for our life styles? Before we get to the negatives I would like to point out the positives. We know from countless research that the sun is beneficial for depression, Vitamin D deficiencies, and Jaundice to name a few. The general consensus is we like to be in the sun; it is fun, warm and gives us a healthy glow. Society tells us a tan is attractive. So the question is, how do we get the benefits of sun without the inevitable damage from overexposure?
Overexposure I believe is the key word when it comes to having Safe Sun.  Finding the right balance is the key to making the most out of the sun. How do you find the right balance? I like to call it SunUcation: the act of educating oneself on sun care and sun benefits. I have spent most of my skin care career on teaching clients and other estheticians how to reverse the signs of free radical damage. For those of you who do not know what free radicals mean in relationship to skin damage, here is a somewhat simplified description. Free radicals have at least one unpaired electron, causing the chemical particle to become unstable. To become stabilized, the particle must obtain an electron from some other chemical. By taking an electron from another chemical, the free radical becomes a stable chemical, but the other chemical now becomes a free radical and its chemical structure is changed. It must then steal an electron. Thus the chain reaction (of atoms stealing electrons) continues and can be thousands of events long.
For example, oxygen minus electrons causes oxidation to healthy near-by cells. An explanation in relation to this exposure is when we see metals which have rusted in the sun. How do we relate that to sun and our bodies? We know that when we are exposed to the sun or UV radiation our pigment darkens and becomes tan.  This is a reaction that takes place in the body when Melanin absorbs sun and is oxidized. This in turn can cause DNA damage possibly leading to premature aging and or cancer.  Overexposure to this process can cause these free radicals to attack cell membranes and cause permanent damage to lipids, proteins and DNA. 90% of all skin cancers are sun related and are preventable.

Experts also agree that 80% of photo aging characterized by wrinkling, sagging and hyper-pigmenting is predisposed due to overexposure that occurred before the age of 20. One in five Americans will develop skin cancer in the course of a life time.  Please understand this information is not to cause you to fear the sun but to educate/ SunUcate yourself and understand the basic cause of overexposure to sun or better yet, overexposure to Ultraviolet Radiation.

This applies to tanning in a tanning bed as well. UVR is a proven human carcinogen, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  Frequent tanners using new high-pressure sunlamps may receive as much as 12 times the annual UVA dose compared to the dose they receive from sun exposure.  People who use tanning beds are 2.5 times more likely to develop squamous cell carcinoma and 1.5 times more likely to develop basal cell carcinoma
Now I can’t go without explaining the differences between sun block and sunscreen. This is probably the hardest factor to understand.  Sun block is characterized by metallic materials that reflect and scatter the UV light and acts as a wall between the sun and your skin. Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide are two examples.  Sunscreen however, is characterized by materials that act as filters to allow a certain amount of UV light to be absorbed into the body.  The SPF number indicates the time a person with sunscreen applied can be exposed to sunlight before getting sun burned. Basically this just means you have to re-apply before there is a lapse in exposure to be in any way effective or blend with a sun block to add reflecting power.  There are a few ingredients that are controversial because they allow more free radical damage to occur than they prevent.  Oxybenzone, Benzophenone, Padimate-O and Parsol 1789 are to name a few.
Understanding the differences between sun block and sunscreen should help you determine which blend is right for you. I would hope one day to see more people brush there teeth, shave and clean their faces, apply sun block/sunscreen, and take a daily antioxidant as part of their everyday routine.  Here is a good example of proper sunscreen use;  a man or woman over 30 with fair to medium complexion who has one or two signs of photo aging and is exposed to 15 to 20 minutes of peak sun a day due to driving. An educated assessment would be they aren’t getting enough protection from their surroundings so a possible addition would be a sun block/sunscreen SPF 25 or higher with both ingredients to block first and absorb what cannot be blocked for daily use. A few great options are: Eminence, Organic Sun Defense SPF 30 is a water resistant sun block in powder form. It is great for oilier skin types and easy to re-apply.  The Secret Skin Solutions, MediOrganic light weight SPF 35 with added free radical fighting antioxidants is great for all skin types. Obagi UVA/UVB sunscreen SPF 35 is another
option.

I hope this frees you to make the proper sun care and UV exposure decisions. Making sun care decisions that can make a difference could range from using sun block/sunscreen to avoiding peak hours of sun from 11am and 3pm whenever possible. In addition, you can take free radical fighting antioxidants daily, use tanning beds less often, and taking advantage of spray tanning facilities to get that bronzed glow.

I would like to leave you with this thought; anything in excess is usually bad for you so finding a balanced place is finding a happier place.

If you have any questions on this topic or any other skin related topic, please feel free to contact me via e-mail at sumique1978@gmail.com.
Suzy Renteria; L.E The Secret Skin Solutions