Sunlight + Your Skin: Dangerous?

For some people, a tan is beautiful which is why they stay out in the sun to have that bronze colored skin they want. However, staying out in the sun for too long has harmful effects on your skin. If you want healthy skin, this has the exact opposite effect!

The sun’s rays contains what are knows as Ultra Voilet or UV rays which is what causes sunburns. When you expose your skin in direct sunlight for a while, these UV rays tear through your skin, causing dark pigmentation known as a tan. When we’re young, tans seem appealing to us. But the same thing, years down the road, will appear as age spots, which is never pleasing. Avoid the sunlight as much as possible; at the very least, use sunscreen lotion every 20 minutes.

Long term exposure to the sunlight leaves your skin unable to replace the burned cells with healthful skin cells, since the DNA is damaged. In turn this can cause wrinkles, dark patches and uneven colour. In fact, it may even lead to skin cancer since new skin cells cannot be reproduced.

You must protect your skin from the harmful rays of the sun. You should stay out of the sun during the time that it is at its strongest- the middle of the day. You may also wear long sleeves or other protective clothing. Applying sunscreen also helps protect your skin.

It is important to understand that exposure to the sun is essential to produce Vitamin D. However, 5-15 minutes of exposure should be enough. Anything more and you risk damaging your skin. Remember to wear long sleeved shirts and to carry and apply sunscreen whenever possible. Following these tips can help your skin in the short and long term!

Penny Jyllenhall has always struggled to maintain her skin which resulted in her creating her own informative website, beautifulskincare.net. Her goal is to educate people about how to take care of their skin through eating healthy and routine skin care.