COULD YOUR SUNSCREEN CAUSE SKIN CANCER?

I'm not an alarmist and I did careful research research  before I  even considered writing the above headline.  But  if your sunscreen or sunblock  contains Oxybenzone the answer  to the question posed is a resounding yes.
 In 2009, The Environmental Working Group, a public nonprofit health and environmental research and advocacy organization based in Washington DC, studied almost 1000 brand name sunscreens    Three in five did not adequately protect skin from the sun or contained harmful chemicals  Among the most harmful is Oxybenzone. It absorbs ultraviolet light but can also be absorbed through the skin.  Oxybenzone is allowed in sunscreens but recent research has linked it to allergies, hormone disruption and cell damage that can lead to skin cancer.  The Centers For Disease Control and Prevention that did the study in 2008 showed that 97% of the American it tested were contaminated with   Oxybenzone.
So why is it still in use?  Unfortunately the Federal Drug and Food Administration which regulates sunscreen safety has not updated mandatory sunscreen standards in more that 30 years.
The news sent me scurrying to my stockpile of sunscreens.   Sure enough there it was listed as the fifth ingredient on Coppertone Ultra Guard.  Then on a whim I checked  my favorite moisturizer, which I've been using regularly for the past three years, Clinique superdefense Spf 25.  Oxybenzone  was there too, only this time it headed the list.    I also found it in Chanel Precision Hydramax active teinte.

I have four small  dry red spots on my cheek. I've had them for months and no matter what I try nothing  works on them . Now I'm wondering if they could be the result of  Oxybenzone.  I've made an appointment with my dermatologist

Stay tuned.
Cheers,
Barb

Quickest Way To Protect Skin From UV Rays

No, I'm not suggesting you sequester yourself indoors for the summer but I have found that getting myself equipped to face the morning sun on my daily power walk takes a lot longer than it used to. For years I just smeared some sunscreen over my face and felt virtuous . Always being a bit shortsighted I never gave a thought to anything below my chin. It was those glaring mirrors at ballet class that gave me my comeuppance when they reflected neck and arm skin that looked considerably older than that on my face. I tried to rectify matters by expanding my sunscreen coverage which also added several minutes to my departure time.
Now I've discovered a product that may help hasten it.
SunGuard is a laundry product that washes sun protection into clothing and helps block more than 96% of UV rays from reaching your skin. UVP,Ultra Violet Protection is similar to SPF ratings for sunscreen. Most light weight and light colored summer fabrics do little or nothing to protect your skin from those harmful rays. A white tee shirt has a UVP factor of 5. Adding just one packet Of SunGuard to a warm or hot water laundry load along with detergent will increase sun protection to a UVP rating of 30. while not changing the texture, color or breathability of clothing. One treatment provides protection for up to 20 washings. This product is recommended by dermatologists and bears the Good Housekeeping and Skin Cancer's Foundation seals. Sounds good to me!
Cheers, Barb

3 Easy Ways to Winterize Your Skin

Winter's cold air and wind coupled with dry indoor heat can wreck as much havoc on your skin as the mid summer sun.
However with just a few precautions you'll be ready to greet spring when it arrives, with your face unscathed.

1. Don't pack away that sunscreen or venture outdoors without it. UVA rays, the kind that don't burn but are ever present even on a cloudy day, are just waiting to penetrate your skin and cause some damage.
2. Change to a heavier moisturizer. If you regularly use a lotion, now is the time to consider switching to a cream. If a cream is your moisturizer of choice as it is for me, you may want to use a coating of face oil underneath.
3. To avoid that unattractive scaly skin that has a way of coating legs each winter use a cream moisturizer after showering. I keep a big jar of Cetapfil Moisturizing Cream on my night table and coat my feet with it before bed and then put on heavy socks. My feet get hours of abuse as a result of my attempts at ballet and are frequently sore but the cream helps soothe and leaves them soft and smooth.
4. Purchase a small humidifier and keep it near your bed. Dry air not only dries your skin it can also dry your sinuses resulting in a stuffy nose and scratchy throat not to mention hair that stands on end.
Cheers,
Barb

Sorting Out That Sun Protection and Searching for Mexoryl

Okay,I'll admit it. I'm a reluctant user of sunscreen, sunblock etc. Yes I do slather it on and follow all the rules rubbing it in thirty minutes before exposure and reapplying throughout the day etc. etc. and each summer I head for the drug store and check out what's new in the world of sun protection. What I'm really looking for doesn't exist but I'm always hopeful that someday there will be a product that will provide adequate protection from those harmful rays while allowing me to replicate that golden tan I used to get from iodine and baby oil.
After all these years and two episodes of squamous cell skin cancer, it's still hard to picture a pale me in the summer. I love being tan. The summer sun transforms me. A few sessions in the sun makes my eyes appear bluer, my hair blonder, my spider veins invisible and even the stubborn cellulite on my thighs look firmer. Just add a tan and any body part looks more appealing.
But it's more than that. I crave the caress of the sun on the side of my face the way a smoker looks forward to that first drag of the day. The sun energizes me, lifts my spirits and its hard to imagine that something that feels so good could be so bad.
Enough complaining. I'm out to stock up on sunblock which until recently I confused with sunscreen. So what's the difference? Suncreen contain chemicals like PABA, benzophenones, cinnamates and salicylates that absorb UV rays. Sunblocks reflect those rays instead of absorbing them and contain such chemicals an titanian dioxide and zinc oxide. Remember that white streak on the lifeguard's nose?)
The sun protection product you chose should offer protection against both UVB (burning) and UVA (aging)rays. Each year the SPF factor keeps climbing and now some products now offer SPF 70 or more So does that mean that you can bask from dawn to dusk. Not necessarily It just means you have a bit more protection in case you didn't apply the right amount in the first place. Recommended is a teaspoon for your face and a tablespoon each for each arm and leg.

I intended to stick to my old favorite Neutrogena Age Shield Sunblock SPF45. Then I recalled that Mexoryl Sunsreen long popular in Canada, Europe Asia and Australia was finally approved late last summer for sale in the US and I started to get that reved up just have to have it feeling. However a thorough search showed it hasn't made it to my neck of the woods yet but it is available for sale on the web. Several manufacturers are making it among them Ombrelle, a division of L'Oreal,
So what's so good about it . Well Dr. Vincent DeLeo, chairman of dermatology at Columbia University claims "It produces a product which gives us almost perfect protection against sunshine." He's not alone in his praise. His colleague Dr. Darrell Rigel, clinical professor of dermatology at NYU claims that Mexoryl is the number one individual ingredient in terms of protection from ultraviolet A radiation. Those are the rays that penetrate deeper into the skin down to those layers that are responsible for skin tone and elasticity. When they're damaged by those nasty rays you end up with lines wrinkles and all other sort of unsightly aging things.
Mexoryl may just be what I've been searching for. I' m ordering mine today and will report back soon. There's nothing like a bit of hope to buoy one along.
Cheers,
Barb