Summer Skin Series: June
It’s summer! This means more exposed skin, sun exposer, vacation and beach days. This all sounds great, except to your skin therapist who only hears pigmentation, dehydrated skin and improper use of SPF. To combat this as best I can, I decided to write a Summer Skin Series to help you address skin concerns that summer leads to before they are an issue. Now, I know we don’t always retain what we learn so I’ve decided to break up this series into four months: June-July-August-September with each month focusing on different aspects of summer skincare.
For June, we are going to talk all about they eyes and how to care for them when it’s so bright outside, SPF and it’s many forms and usages and finally a little Beach Skincare 101 to get your skin beach ready and prepared for maximum exposure.
When you think of June, what comes to mind? Schools almost out, which means the kiddos are out and about, which means if you’re a parent you are probably going to have to entertain them to some degree. For my family, this meant that my sister and I went to summer camp while my mother was at work. Being outside during summer is only great in the morning, but summer camp meant until 5pm. Our eyes are working non-stop to receive the images around us, a lot of times without any protection from UV rays or environmental factors.
Getting proper eyewear for summer sun is key, and there are so many options for us out there now! What to focus on when purchasing sunglasses is do they offer UVA and UVB protection, how is the glare when wearing them and are you wearing them consistently, not just when you’re at the beach. If you haven’t invested in a good pair of sunglasses, this is a great time to do so with so many options ranging in price, everyone can afford a good pair of sunglasses.
In doing some research for this blog, I fell upon a little tidbit of information about what sun damage can do to the eyes. According to The National Eye Institute :
Cataracts, a clouding of the eye’s lens that can blur vision. An estimated 20% of cases are caused by extended UV exposure.
Macular degeneration, resulting from damage to the retina that destroys central vision. Macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness in the United States.
Pterygium, a tissue growth over the white part of the surface of the eye that can alter the curve of the eyeball, causing astigmatism.
So wearing some adorable Ray Bans is more than just a fashion statement!
Now that your precious peepers are covered, let’s talk about what you are doing to treat the skin around the eyes. I will be going more into this in our next Back to Basics series this month which is all about eye care. Using an eye cream is essential to maintaining the health of this delicate skin. An eye cream is formulated specifically for this area, the skin here is different than the skin on the rest of your face. You wouldn’t want to use regular moisturizer on your eye are as it is too heavy and can cause a lovely little gem called “milia” to pop up. These look like a pimple, they are white and round but no matter how hard you squeeze, they don’t come out. This is caused by dead skin getting trapped in the follicle and no opening to help release it. Think of it as a hard pearl of dead skin and debris that is trapped. Hydration helps with these and more on this in our Back to Basics blog “All About Eyes”!
“Here comes the sun, and I say ‘it’s alright’....”
The sun. We love it. We need it. Every year we get burned from it, soak in it, hide from it, but it still keeps shining no matter what we do. I’d like to honor the sun for a moment for all that it does for us before I tell you all the bad and how we should hide from it…..moments over.
In looking at the image below, you can get a visual of what your SPF is doing and the amount of coverage. Please note the jump (or lack there of) from SPF 15 to SPF 30. It is only about 4% increase even though it is double the amount of SPF. What is happening is that there is a higher concentration of the SPF ingredient in the product but it just means for more of it, not more protection. Too much of an ingredient like chemical SPF can cause skin sensitivities.
First, let’s understand why we don’t want to just walk out with no SPF on and frolic in the sun. Fun fact: 80-85% of our aging is caused by the rays emitted from the sun. Continual exposure to the suns rays increase the weakening of our collagen and elastin, essential for keeping skin firm and supple.
There are two types of rays; UVA and UVB. When I was in beauty school, the easiest way for me to remember them was A stands for Aging and B stands for Burning, and guess what? The sun’s ultraviolet rays consist of almost 95% UVA rays so no matter what it is aging us faster than burning!
So knowing that these UV rays are streaming down live and direct to our planet, it’s our obligation to our body to protect it from harm. Exposure to these rays can alter our skin’s melanin causing harmful effects like skin cancer, and can damage the eyes as we learned above. However, knowing about UV rays is only a portion of the battle, now you have to know which SPF to select, how often to reapply and other tips to protect you from the sun like SPF clothing!
To repeat myself from earlier: for all my SPF addicts out there, an SPF 50 does not mean you are more protected, it means you’re rubbing more chemicals on your skin. Now getting into ingredients of SPF, there are two types; Chemical SPF and Physical SPF. I have noticed in my treatment room that clients who say they are allergic to SPF are reacting to the high concentration of Chemical SPF, those are your octocrylene, avobenzone and octinoxate etc. in your ingredient list. Physical SPF’s are simple, only Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide and typically people don’t react to these as they are actually beneficial to the skin. In our treatments here at Enlighten Bodhi Spa, we only use physical SPF on the skin, Zinc is insanely healthy for the skin and even safe to use after a chemical peel! I recommend no higher than a 30 and no less then 15 for your SPF, reapply every two hours if you are outside or 30 minutes before sun exposure. No, SPF is not water resistant and sweating and water will rinse it away eventually.
“Side note from editor- did you know that when your skin peels from a sun burn you are witnessing cell suicide?!? Your skin cells kill themselves as they are now damaged in an attempt to protect you from sun damage.”
You’ve got your knowledge of SPF and sun-smart eye care so let’s move on to the rest of your body!
For starters, it is important we have a loofa or exfoliating washcloth that can reach our back. I love using myin-shower scrub brush, a brush with a long handle, to reach my back. Before you shower, you can dry brush your whole body to get circulation going and start removing dead skin. I have noticed more and more places carry dry brushes, my favorite locally here in Sacramento is either the Sacramento Food Co-Op or Refill Madness. When dry brushing, start from your feet, moving in brisk strides upward toward your heart. The goal of dry brushing, other than removing dead skin, is to aid in circulation, keep that in mind when brushing!
Once in the shower, cleanse your skin to remove debris, follow with a body scrub and massage in with your loofa or scrub brush to really get the dead skin off. You can use an in shower oil on the skin, but I have dropped mine and made a booby trap of my bathtub with how slippery it got. After the shower, pat dry skin (no rubbing) and massage either a skin oil or your preferred moisturizer.
I am known to own a million lotions, right now I am stuck on a local brand California Mango not just because it smells like one of my favorite fruits, but it deeply hydrates my skin and they have a scrub, body wash, lotion, cuticle oil and hand sanitizer! The only thing they are missing is SPF so please make sure to invest in a reef safe (if you are going into the ocean) SPF that you remember to diligently reapply.
There are also in shower body masks you can do, however if you are showering alone getting your back treated is really complicated. For that, estheticians have this amazing treatment we do, the Back Treatment. It is like a facial and includes almost all of the same steps, but it’s all about your back skin! I recommend clients do one at least quarterly to get a good check up on what’s going on back there (no pun intended) and keep the skin hydrated and healthy. What is the best thing you can do other than SPF to get your skin beach ready? HYDRATE!!! I can’t stress enough how important proper hydration is, especially when the temperatures soar. If you don’t know if you are drinking enough water think about this, you should be drinking your body weight in ounces, and that is not including drinking an equivalent amount of water for every non-water beverage. It may seem like you’re just drinking water all day, but your body is surely thanking you for it!
So we’ve covered eye care and the importance of keeping the shades on, SPF and its mysteries which hopefully now you feel armed and ready to stock up on your SPF, and finally Beach Skincare 101 with reminders of how to care for our body skin. Keep your eyes peeled for next month’s post in the Summer Skin Series as I discuss summer makeup and packing the ultimate Beach Bag!
Till next time, be good to your skin and even better to yourself,
xx eri