Face skin care or regular skin care for that matter isn't just limited to facial cleansing and putting on facial masks, it is also about prevention and being aware of certain things that are harmful to our skin. If you have this knowledge, you'll then be able to go about finding alternatives that are much healthier and safer for your skin. After all, beauty starts with your skin.

Summer is here, the weather is perfect and the sun is beating down which means people are enjoying the outdoors and basking in the sun. It feels good and you get a nice tan out of it. But as far as skin health and safety goes, the chance of skin cancer or other skin related issues are far too high for direct sun tanning to be a smart choice. Sure it looks good, but as you get older and your skin begins to sag, the harsh effects of sun tanning only decreases the health of your skin and ironically makes your skin look terrible by making it age faster.

Dangers of Sun Tanning Through Research

During 20th century, sun tans became popular among women as they desired some glow to their skin tone. However, the dangers of sun tanning started to surface through several researches conducted during the late 1970's and early 1980's. According to these studies, there is a link between the amount of exposure to the sun and skin cancer. This is something we know very well but for some reason people just don't seem to think more than once about it. Unprotected sun exposure damages our skin. From the moment we walk out of the home, our skin is subject to sun damage regardless of whether it is sunny, rainy, snowing or even cloudy (40-50% of UV rays still penetrate clouds and reach the earth's surface).

Sun Tan Myth

When we are exposed to the sun, melanin production increases and the result is a darker tanned skin. This tanned skin is a defensive response to the suns exposure. Some people believe that sun tans actually protect us from skin cancer but tanned skin are just as easily burnt. If this is the argument that you are hearing, then common sense would suggest that dark pigmented skin are protected from the sun but that couldn't be further from the truth. Dark skinned people are just as easily burnt. A sun tan provides an SPF of only about 2, which means the protection lasts for only 2 minutes. Even though tanned skin is a protective response, it confirms that there is no such thing as a safe tan under the sun.

Exposure to Sun's UV Rays

Skin cancer occurs when too much UV light penetrate the skin causing cell mutation and cancerous reactions in cells. In fact, 90% of skin cancers are caused by direct sun exposure.

The Langerhans cells in the epidermis functions to prevent bacteria from attacking the immune system that is contained in the skin and prevent cell mutation. Unfortunately, even a few minutes of unprotected sun exposure can damage the Langerhans cells that can last for weeks.

The sun (UV rays) also destroys the collagen structure of the skin into a disordered, weakened system. As the UV rays damage the collagen structure, it also damages the Langerhans cells and thickens the exterior of the skin, causing a block of the skin's blood supply and reduction of the skin's elasticity. In addition, unprotected sun exposure causes skin aging, wrinkles, freckles and sunspots.

Conclusion

Sun tanning is usually a short term benefit. Want to look older than you really are? Want your skin to sag and be dry? Then sun tanning is the way to go, otherwise you can look into sunless tanning products also known as self tanners. In future posts, we'll be looking more into sun care and how you can achieve awesome safe sun tans with sunless tanning wipes/towelettes.

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