Tanning!

Sun damage is worse than smoking as far as your skin is concerned and for many of us tanning can be just as addictive as smoking.

The thing is it seems so healthy being out and about in the glorious sunshine. Most of us feel we look better after with a golden tan to banish our pasty pale winter skin.

But make no mistake about it, if you want younger looking skin you have to avoid a deep tan at all costs. A light golden glow is your limit and even better if you get it out of a bottle.

Sun bathing is healthy to a degree, a very small degree. Your body needs about 20 minutes daily unprotected exposure to the sun to make the Vitamin D it needs for optimum health.

More than that and the sun will start to accelerate skin aging and make you look years older than you are.

As far as skin aging is concerned, smoking and tanning are the two worst lifestyle choices you can make and sun damage is the single most aging thing you can do to your skin.

So, how does the sun damage your skin? How long have you got? The list is long and
if you’re a smoker, the effect of all of this will be much worse. And just because you have darker or olive skin don’t think you are safe. A tan of any sort is evidence of injury to the epidermis or the top layer of the skin.

You may think this is exaggerated, especially if you can’t see the damage to your skin yet. Try getting a scan done to show the existing level of UV damage your skin has sustained which you can’t see.

Of course you can still enjoy the great outdoors, even when the sun is at its hottest, as long as you follow the golden rules. They can best be summarized as: protect your skin with sunscreen, cover up and seek shade when sun is at its hottest.

Remember you need both UVB and UVA protection for your skin and you need to buy the best you can afford for maximum anti aging protection. Skinceuticals Ultimate UV Defense is one of the best anti aging sunscreens around currently from a quality dermatologist level skin care brand.

So do yourself a real favor, follow the three golden rules and protect your skin from aging for as long as possible!