Friday, July 25, 2008

WHY USE SUNSCREEN? I’M NEVER IN THE SUN!

Dear Friend...

Honestly…are you wearing sunscreen today? If your answer is “NO!” I’m going to tell why this is soooo important and, hopefully, change you into a sunscreen user.

Let me tell you that sunscreen should really be called daylight-screen but that name is too long to fit on any product label. During this discussion I will be using the longer name to re-enforce the idea for you.

Anytime there’s daylight, even on overcast days, the UV rays are zipping around and bouncing off your body. This effect is multiplied when you’re walking on pavement because the rays are flying down from above and bouncing upward from the hard surface giving you double trouble. So when you’re walking from your car to the grocery store or to work, your face is being bombarded by UV rays!

Over the years I’ve met a lot of resistance from my clients about adding daylight-screen to their morning routine and I live in Fresno, CA where summer temperatures regularly reach 100 degrees or more!

Daylight-screen is just as important as the cleanser and toner in your morning routine. It not only protects your skin from the sun’s harmful rays today but determines how your face will look in 10, 20 or 30 years from now.

You see, UV rays penetrate so deeply into your skin that they damage the dermis. That’s the layer of skin where new cells are made every minute of the day. The damage affects the tiny color factories where pigmentation is made either causing them to work overtime and create the age spots that develop later in life or killing them outright. It’s this over-action and ‘bleaching’ that causes the mottling seen on older peoples’ skin especially those who have spent a lot of time in the sun.

More horrifying than the color variations in our skin is the damage the sun does to the elastin and collagen in the dermis.

Collagen is a protein that provides a cushion between our upper skin layers and muscles. This cushion gives shape, plumpness and smoothness to our face.

Elastin provides the ‘snap’ that enables our skin to return to its original position when pulled one way or another. It acts like the rubber bands in a waistband. If you repeatedly expose elastic to high temperatures, it gets ‘stretchy’ and sags into folds. This exactly mirrors the action in our skin when our elastin is damaged.

So now I hope you see how important sunscreen is for your face today and for your future face!

I know, I’ve heard all the excuses…
• Sunscreen is greasy, which is especially bad for oily skin or acne
• Sunscreen smells funny
• I live in an area that doesn’t receive much direct sunlight
• Sunscreen is only needed during the summer months

There are daylight-screen on the market that answer all these objections. While the better products are also more expensive, you can find a daylight-screen that isn’t greasy and doesn’t smell. There’s even a product that sprays on ‘dry’ to the touch.

I recommend that you start by investigating the Dermalogica line. They have the widest variety of sun products including one that can be mixed into your foundation to ‘boost’ its SPF.

Speaking of foundation, don’t forget that mineral makeup provides the highest SPF, is slightly waterproof, and is good for your skin because it does not clog pores.

If you think you are safe from UV rays because you spend more time in your car instead of the great outdoors, remember that glass does not stop UV rays and tinted glass only blocks about 1-2% of those harmful rays. As proof of this fact, I can tell you that I see much more sun damage on the left side of my clients’ faces as well as their left arm and hand.

One last parting note…remember that daylight is 8 times stronger when it reflects off snow, ice or water. A word to the wise: keep using your daylight screen every day not just during the Summer!

Yours in Great Skin,

Carolyn

Saturday, July 5, 2008

THE DEMON SUGAR - PART I

Dear Friend...

Beside the weight gain, increased fatigue and diminished immune system function resulting from diets high in sugar, it is now recognized by researchers that diets heavy in sugar accelerate wrinkling and premature aging.

In a process called glycation, sugar in the bloodstream attaches to proteins and form AGE’s (advanced glycation end products). As more AGE’s form they damage neighboring proteins in a chain reaction similar to dominos falling.

Collage and elastin, the two major components of the dermis layer of our skin are most susceptible to damage by AGE’s. Collage and elastin provide plumpness and firmness in our skin. AGE’s cause these two proteins to become brittle and dry speeding early wrinkling.

AGE’s also deactivate our body’s antioxidant enzymes that provide protection against sun damage. Sun damage is the #1 cause of aging skin.

Its not all bad news, however, you can reverse AGE damage through the use of retinol topical products and diet modification.

Next time I’ll list ways you can fight AGE formation and damage.

Hugs,

Carolyn Johnson