The most important way to take care of your skin is to protect it from the sun. Ultraviolet (UV) light - the invisible but intense rays from the sun - damages your skin, causing deep wrinkles, dry, rough skin, liver spots, age spots, sun spots, and more serious disorders, such as noncancerous (benign) and cancerous (malignant) skin tumors. In fact, most of the changes seen in aging skin are actually caused by a lifetime of sun exposure.
For the most complete sun protection, use all three of these methods:
- Avoid the sun during high-intensity hours. The sun's rays are most damaging from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Reduce the time you spend outdoors during these hours.
- Wear protective clothing. Cover your skin with clothing, such as long-sleeved shirts, long pants sunglasses and wide-brimmed hats. Also, keep in mind that certain clothing styles and fabrics offer better protection from the sun than do others. Several companies now make sun protective clothing and hats (SPF clothing), which is specifically designed to block out ultraviolet rays while keeping you cool and comfortable.
- Use sunscreen. Choose a broad-spectrum sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of at least 30 SPF such as Dr. Ataii's LC Oil-Free SPF 30 or LC Green Tea Tinted SPF 50. Apply sunscreen liberally EVERY MORNING (even on cloudy or rainy days) before going outdoors. Reapply sunscreen every two hours, if out in the sun for a long period of time, such as being at the pool, park or beach. Also, reapply after heavy sweating or after being in water.
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