You’ve heard it before. You will hear it again. The most important, most critical, and most credible skin care advice you will ever receive.

Wear sun screen every day. You need to wear it when it is cloudy outside and even if you are not planning a trip to the beach!

At Refine Clinic, we have been specialising in dermatology & aesthetics for over 20 years. We’ve been telling our patients over these 20 years, that sunscreen is your first line of defence against premature ageing.

The sun emits powerful ultraviolet rays that penetrate through clouds and windows alike, wreaking havoc on your skin cells whether you are indoors or outdoors. If you’re not convinced yet about how important sunscreen really is for keeping your skin looking youthful and preventing damage from occurring, consider these amazing benefits:

Sunscreen is the first, most important step in your anti ageing routine.

The skin is the body’s largest organ, and we need to protect it! It helps maintain healthy tissue, prevent infections and heal wounds. If you don’t wear sunscreen every day — especially when you’re outside for long periods of time — you risk sunburns that can lead to cancers such as basal cell carcinoma or melanoma (the most dangerous kind). If your skin isn’t protected from the sun’s UV rays, they can speed up the aging process by breaking down collagen fibers which give your skin elasticity.

We recommend applying a broad spectrum sunscreen with SPF 30+ every morning before going out into direct sunlight so that you don’t get burned. This protects you against premature wrinkles!

98% of the signs of ageing on your skin are caused by the suns UV rays.

Sunburn and UV damage cause wrinkles, age spots and skin cancer. In addition, prolonged exposure to the sun can damage your skin’s immune system. This makes it harder for your body to fight off infection. It is estimated that around 90% of all people will develop at least one form of skin cancer during their lifetime. So it’s important to protect yourself from damaging rays as much as possible!

Your sunscreen needs to have broad-spectrum UVA and UVB protection, not just SPF.

Sunscreen is your first line of defence against ageing in the sun. The SPF rating only measures protection from UVB radiation (the burning rays), so make sure you choose a broad-spectrum sunscreen that protects against UVA as well.

SPF stands for Sun Protection Factor and is a measure of how well your sunscreen will protect you against sunburn and UVB rays that burn.

SPF stands for Sun Protection Factor. This is a measure of how well your sunscreen will protect you against sunburn and UVB rays that burn. The higher the SPF, the longer it takes for you to burn in the sun.

Because there are different types of sunlight, sunscreens have been divided into two categories:

  • UVA protection, which protects against ageing and skin cancer (SPF 15+), and
  • UVB protection, which protects against burning and some types of skin cancer (SPF 8-14).

Broad spectrum is the term used to describe a sunscreen that protects against both UVA and UVB rays.

Always look for a sunscreen that protects against both UVA and UVB rays. Broad spectrum means that the sunscreen absorbs both types of harmful radiation. UVB rays are present year-round. UVA rays are strongest between 10 am and 2 pm. Both types of ultraviolet (UV) light can cause skin damage. UVA rays are the main cause of premature ageing (wrinkles, fine lines) as well as skin cancer.

So preventing these rays from penetrating your skin is an anti-wrinkle treatment.

UVA rays penetrate deep into your skin so they’re very damaging to skin cells.

You need a sunscreen with a minimum SPF of 15 to protect against the UVA rays.

UVB rays penetrate less deeply into your skin, but are still damaging and can cause burns and sunburn as well as contribute to development of melanoma (skin cancer).

UVB rays penetrate into the dermis (the middle layer of your skin), where they damage collagen and elastin fibres, which helps your skin maintain its firmness. Over time, this causes premature ageing signs such as wrinkles, fine lines, dark spots and uneven pigmentation.

Any sunscreen can be harmful if it’s expired or has been stored incorrectly.

Check the ‘use by’ date and make sure it’s not stored in direct sunlight or exposed to heat or freezing temperatures where possible.

  • Any sunscreen can be harmful if it’s expired or has been stored incorrectly. Check the ‘use by’ date and make sure it’s not stored in direct sunlight or exposed to heat or freezing temperatures where possible.
  • If you don’t use your sunscreen often, keep it in a cool, dark place like your fridge or bathroom cabinet; this will help stop the ingredients from breaking down over time.

There you have it! We hope you find this information useful to effectively use sunscreen. It really is your first line of defence against the ravages of environmental ageing.

You’re key takeaway here is that protecting your skin is about more than just avoiding wrinkles; you’re also defending yourself against cancer and other diseases! So protect your skin with sun screen and don’t forget to have you moles mapped to monitor any changes in your skin.

Remember prevention is better than cure!

For more information on mole mapping and Refine Clinic’ s dermatology services click here.

To book a consultation you can book online.

Call 01-5645926

Email info@refineclinic.ie

You can also contact us and we’ll get back to you.