I’m currently sitting at my favorite corner table at my local Starbucks listening to a girl order a Pumpkin Spice Latte, which can only mean one thing: FALL IS HERE. Okay, not technically, but for those of us who prefer the ‘ber months (September-December) it might as well be.
You guys will get a break from sandy feet in the house and sweating while walking to your car, but you won’t get a break from your esthetician talking about sunscreen. So on behalf of estheticians everywhere begging and pleading with you to keep the sunscreen in your daily routine despite the change in the weather, I’m going to explain the reason behind the manic ramblings.
When it comes to skincare, we’re always treating a concern, whether it be acne, hyperpigmentation, fine lines and wrinkles, or preventative concerns. Literally every single one of these conditions is exasperated by sun damage. Yes, of course, the UV Rays we talk about are most definitely stronger in the summer, but they still exist in the Fall and Winter months, too. Even though you most likely aren’t going to get a sunburn in the Fall, your skin can still be taking on more sun damage, especially if you’re exfoliating or using retinol at night.
Exfoliants and retinols work gorgeously for anti-aging because they speed up cellular turnover, a process that slows down as we get older. The downside is when you use these products, the top layer of your skin is more sensitive, because we’re essentially “taking it off” every night. This means in the morning you wake up with a glowing new layer of skin. That skin, however, isn’t as “tough” as the old skin cells (because it’s newer). Therefore, if we don’t add SPF to protect it, it’s more easily burned.
Those burns turn into freckles, or sun damage. (Yes, all freckles are sun damage. Cute sun damage, but sun damage nonetheless.) So then we’re having to work even harder to correct a problem that could’ve been prevented in the first place.
Now keep in mind we’re talking about the largest organ in your body here, so not wearing sunscreen can also potentially invite other, more serious complications, like skin cancer. Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer there is, and it's scary because so many times, it's undetectable to the naked eye. Sunscreen is proven effective in preventing cancer, per this study.
“In comparison with people randomized to using sunscreen at their discretion if at all, people randomized to daily use of a broad-spectrum SPF15+ sunscreen showed a 40% reduction in squamous cell carcinoma tumors at the conclusion of the trial (16).”
So of course, we love sunscreen for the vainer reasons, aka less wrinkles and sunspots, but we also recognize it as a key factor in skin health. Plus, with amazing mineral options (even ones that double as a makeup primer!) it's super easy to incorporate every day.
Including this picture of a truck driver who never wore sunscreen so you can be as scared-straight as we are. Basically, one side of his face was constantly in the sun for decades and the other wasn't. You can see that the right side (his left) is exponentially more wrinkled. Please just trust us- this stuff is worth the money!
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