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There’s a darker side to light.
Well, in terms of your skin’s health, at least.
We’re well aware of the havoc that the sun can cause, but actually, sunlight is not the only visible light that can speed up your skin’s ageing process and damage it at a cellular level.
Recent studies have shown that visible light indoors is as damaging, if not more so, than Mother Nature’s great ‘lightbulb’.
So you probably know about UV – Ultra Violet light- but how about HEVL? High-energy visible light (HEVL) is emitted by energy-efficient fluorescent bulbs and LED lights.
Cool for seeing, but the downside is that the light they emit causes ROS-mediated photo ageing and inflammation of the skin.
ROS stands for ‘reactive oxygen species’, which researchers figured out years ago are behind the skin’s free-radical damage when exposed to UV light from the sun.
To put it plainly, free radical damage manifests as acne, pigmentation, eczema, and collagen degradation.
Then, there’s also blue light from all that screen time to worry about.
Whether it’s from our computers or phones, day or night, our complexions are constantly taking strain because we are exposed to blue light from so many different sources.
Don’t fret, though – there are ways to protect your phiz from those energy-efficient fluorescent lightbulbs used indoors, as well as from those marathon social media scrolling sessions.
The truth is that staring at your screen for eight hours doesn’t carry the same consequences as ditching the SPF on the beach to try and tan, but the hours spent watching TV, sifting through our inbox, juggling Zoom calls, and scrolling adds up.
If you’re thinking about your future selfies, you’ll basically need to apply – and possibly reapply – a high-quality, broad-spectrum sunscreen every day, 365 days a year.
Sorry, but a foundation containing a smidge of SPF doesn’t count.
You’ll need to get yourself an SPF that multi-tasks and takes the job seriously; one that creates a strong barrier between your skin and all the different types of light, including HEVL, UV, and every kind in between.
Skin Renewal stocks several innovative, light-fighting SPFs that protect your skin from damage today and the consequences tomorrow and even repair the damage caused in the past.
Visit the Online Skin Shop to learn more about all the sunscreen superheroes, such as Heliocare, Lamelle, Neostrata, and Skinceuticals, to name a few.
