The biggest enemy of our skin is not time, it is the sun!

This is a picture from an article published in The New England Journal of Medicine. It's the face of a 69-year old man who has been a delivery truck driver for 28 years. The left side of his face was regularly exposed to UV radiation while driving. His face shows the severe effects of aging due to unprotected sun exposure, also called photoaging. Look at the right side, and see how little damaged it is in comparison.





Regular exposure to the sun without any protection will cause a gradual thickening of the skin and the formation of deep wrinkles. I know a lot of women take good care of their skin with products, packs and facials. But none of these will help without a really good sunscreen.

The BEST anti-aging cream is a sunscreen! Physical protections such as hats, umbrellas, and sunglasses are even better, but we can't always use them. So ladies whatever you do don't forget that sunscreen. Thinking that you don't need sunscreen on cloudy days is a BIG myth. UVA radiation can easily pass through cloud cover and cause as much damage as on a sunny day.

So slather on that sunscreen. It's the best thing you can do if you wish to keep your skin looking younger for as long as possible.

 

I looked up the ingredients in the Lotus Sunscreen. This is what I found,

Water, talcum, kaolin light, glycerine, polyacrylamideC13-14 Isoparaffin laureth-7, oxybenzoene,octyl methoxy cinnamate, titanium dioxide, butyl methoxydibenzoylmethane, isopropyl myristare,cyclopentasiloxane, elcosene, copolymer, fumed silica, 2- phenoxyethanol, methyl paraben, propyl paraben, methylchloroisothiazolinone and methylisothiazolinone, red iron oxide, yellow iron oxide, fragrance.

The active ingredients are bolded and underlined. All three are well-researched UV filters. I couldn't find the exact percentages but this sunscreen seems to have good coverage. What is the SPF and PA value? It should be listed on the packaging. I can tell you more if you have that information. Otherwise, it seems like a good sunscreen. If it's working for you, keep using it.

 

If you don't sweat and your face remains untouched during the day, you could get away without having to reapply your sunscreen every 2 hours as recommended by the Skin Cancer Foundation. Of course, only if you use a purely physical sunscreen. But most sunscreens use a mix of chemical and physical filters, and need to be reapplied.

Personally, I hate physical sunscreens for my face since they leave a horrible white cast. I use a physical/chemical mix that is completely sheer. I don't mind reapplying, but then I'm rarely ever out in the sun for more than 2 hours at a time. I always use hats and sunglasses too. I guess it's working since my skin is pretty much the same as it was 10 years ago. No age spots and no wrinkles so far.