Ah, summer: Glittering, sun-filled days of beach trips, barbeques, and social butterflying. Spending endless hours vying for the sun’s attention, eager to get an even tan—a prospect so gratifying that we ignore that annoying little voice inside our head preaching about the harmful rays of the sun.
But alas, summer is escaping; our once-bronze, glowing tans have faded to dry, peeling skin, and we’re forced to question whether we may have done more harm than good in contributing to the premature aging of our skin.
As young undergraduate students, we may mistakenly believe that the war against aging has yet to enter our list of everyday worries—but new scientific discoveries are forcing us to think otherwise.
Even in our twenties, it is not too early to begin protecting our skin. From the free-radical damage that often accompanies a busy lifestyle or even just minor sun burns you get from beach vacations, there are lifestyle changes and products you can use to limit the damage done to your skin. True, sometimes the right products are hard to come by, especially since anti-aging products have long lumped themselves into one universally-marketable category. Scientists, however, have begun to take note of the lack of specificity in these products toward the skin’s different needs during the dynamic process of aging. After all, a woman in her fifties requires a serum stronger, and more targeted to reducing the appearance of her fine lines and wrinkles, than a twenty-year old.
This breakthrough in scientific thought has finally begun to trickle down to its application in products. In Boston, an MIT-trained scientist formulated a skin-care line of four unique formulas, specific to age category: 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50+. Following this logic, the most effective way to prevent premature aging is to start early, changing the products you use as the needs of your skin change.
Clearly, being in our early twenties doesn’t require a laboring, product-laden regimen. But there are a few practical things we can do on a daily basis to prevent premature aging from occurring. After all, this is the most important decade for your skin, and the way you care for it now will determine what it will look like for the rest of your life.
Some of these tips are so obvious that you will be tempted to roll your eyes, but they are worth mentioning because they truly are foundations for a lifetime of healthy skin.
- Limit sun exposure. According to the Mayo Clinic staff, this is one of the greatest preventative measures one can take to avoid wrinkles, age spots and other skin problems —such as skin cancer. Limit the time you spend in the sun, remembering that the sun’s rays are strongest between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. It’s also important to apply sunscreen, but exercise caution in this area. In the past, dermatologists recommended using products with the highest levels of SPF, to the point that companies were manufacturing products that had ridiculously excess levels of it. Though it may seem logical that SPF 100 offers double the protection of an SPF 50, recent studies have shown that this is not the case. Top dermatologist James Spencer explains that an SPF 30 protects the skin from 97% of UV rays, while an SPF 45 blocks the skin from 98% of rays. After that point, the amount of protection an SPF offers is minimal, despite the wildly high number on the packaging. It is impossible for a product to block 100% of rays. In fact, SPF higher than 45 can cause damage to the skin, because the chemicals are more concentrated and potent. Instead, Dr. Lawrence E. Gibson from the Mayo Clinic advises people to look on the label for a water resistant broad-spectrum, or full-spectrum, sunscreen designed to protect you from both harmful UVA and UVB rays. His formula for maximal skin protection: apply sufficient sunscreen 30 minutes before you go outdoors; use sunscreen on all skin surfaces that will be exposed to the sun, such as your face, ears, arms and lips; reapply sunscreen every two hours and immediately after swimming or heavy sweating.
Also, contrary to common belief, the sun is highly active all year round: water, snow and concrete all reflect sunlight. This highlights the importance of using an SPF protectant every season. Since UV light can pass through clouds and windows, use a moisturizer that contains SPF even when the sky’s cloudy or you’re indoors.
Another good idea is to wear protective clothing, such as wide-brimmed hats. (Move over fedoras; the floppy wide-brims are making a comeback!). Also, a new addition on the market is laundry additives, which give clothing an additional layer of U.V. protection for a certain number of washings.
- Stay hydrated. Dry skin shrivels and wrinkles faster than dewy, plump skin. Think of your skin as a sponge that is the largest organ of your body. That being said, doctors recommend drinking half of your body weight in ounces per day.
- Eat a healthy diet. “Good nutrition is a fundamental building block of healthy skin,” said Leslie Baumann, MD, a Miami Beach dermatologist. Certain vitamins, particularly A, B-3, C, and E are important for maintaining healthy skin. Eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean proteins. Avocados, citrus, soybeans, nuts, salmon, pomegranates and tomatoes are great sources of these key nutrients. For example, the lycopene in tomatoes can prevent sunburns and the oils in salmon promote collagen production.
- Don’t sleep in your makeup. In an article published last month in the Daily Mail, a woman describes an experiment she conducted in which she refrained from removing her makeup at night. She would simply apply more makeup over what she was wearing—day after day for an entire month. Afterward, she had her skin evaluated by a dermatologist; the results: her skin looked older by ten years in addition to an eye infection.
- Cleanse, Moisturize, Exfoliate. Start by using a gentle cleanser that matches your skin type and wash with warm or cool water since hot water can strip away your skin’s natural moisture. Then move on to a daily moisturizer. Moisturizer protects and improves your skin even if your natural skin type is oily.
For dry skin, it’s recommended to put on moisturizer more than just once a day. And lastly, exfoliate weekly. According to Dr. Mehmet Oz, it’s essential to remove dead skin cells with a soft washcloth, spinning brush, or scrubs with synthetic beads.
The key to maintaining clear, healthy skin is simply to take care of it. Follow the practical guidelines above and you can be sure your summer tan will fade into a glowing complexion with insurance for its future health. Next time I go outside to tan by the poolside, I’ll try to remember the long-term effects of the sun. Regardless, I like to tell myself that the fashion forecast for next summer reveals a comeback for the pale.
1,175