Are you diligent about applying sunscreen to your face on a daily basis? Good for you! You’re doing your best to avoid premature skin damage due to sun overexposure. But are you careful to protect your neck, décolletage and upper parts of your hands too? Here in California, we rarely have to bundle up against the cold and these areas are exposed more often than not. They deserve protection too.
The prevalence of open necklines and pushed-up sleeves make regular sunscreen application in these often forgotten areas essential. Not doing so causes a breakdown of collagen fibers at the cellular level. Skin elasticity can become compromised leading to wrinkles and slack skin. Freckles and age spot may appear as well. The very skin you bare today without benefit of sunscreen will be the same you devise to cover in the not too distant future.
Remember to choose a broad spectrum sunscreen, one tested and proven to shield you from both UVB rays – the shorter wavelengths responsible for sunburn – and UVA rays – the wavelengths that penetrate deeper and cause skin cancer, brown spots and wrinkling. And choose one with a sun protection factor, otherwise known as SPF, of at least 15 or higher. But don’t go crazy – the FDA has set a cap on this number at SPF 50+ since anything over 50 really doesn’t offer you much more protection.
Spring is just around the corner ushering in lighter and more revealing fashions. Take time to apply sunscreen to your neck, exposed shoulders, upper chest, forearms, upper hands……and don’t forget your legs and feet, as your outfit dictates! The precautions you take today assure you’ll continue to wear fun and flirty styles now and in the future free of inhibition about your skin’s appearance.