Sunscreens, UVB and UVA Rays

With summer lurking just around the corner, it’s almost time to tie up that new bathing suit, fire up the grill, and most importantly, slather on the sunscreen. The importance of sun care escalates as knowledge of skin cancer increases in the United States, and the National Cancer Institute estimates that there are more than one million new cases of skin cancer in 2009 alone. Still, loyal sunbathers and frequent beach-goers are able to enjoy some fun in the sun thanks to the vast array of sunscreen available. Sunscreens are available in several forms, including lotion, sprays, ointments, and sticks, and are often labeled with a Sun Protection Factor (SPF), which can range from 2 to 50. The higher the SPF, the more sun protection, and most dermatologists recommend using a sunscreen with an SPF 15 or higher.

Sunscreen protects the skin from harmful UVA and UVB rays from the sun, and too much exposure to these rays can cause sunburn and wrinkles. Long term sun exposure can lead to cancer, which is the most common type of cancer, according to the American Cancer Association. Most sunscreens contain zinc oxide, which as the ability to filter UVA and UVB rays to protect the skin. Zinc oxide has been used in skin products for many years and can be used with all skin types.

UVradiation, a known carcinogen, can have a number of harmful effects on the skin. The two types of UV radiation that can affect the skin—UVA and UVB—have both been linked to skin cancer and a weakening of the immune system. They also contribute to premature aging of the skin and cataracts (a condition that impairs eyesight), and cause skin color changes.

UVA Rays

UVA rays, which are not absorbed by the ozone layer, penetrate deep into the skin and heavilycontribute to premature aging. Up to 90 percent of the visible skin changes commonly attributed to aging are caused by sun exposure.

UVB Rays

These powerful rays, which are partially absorbed by the ozone layer, mostly affect the surface of the skin and are the primary cause of sunburn. Because of the thinning of the ozone layer, the effects of UVB radiation will pose an increased threat until the layer is restored in the latter half of the 21st century.

The following table from the FDA lists these ingredients and includes information regarding the type and amount of ray protection that they provide and their class.

Is a Suntan Healthy?

Just remember, there is no such thing as a healthy suntan. Any change in your natural skin color is a sign of skin damage. Every time your skin color changes after sun exposure, your risk of developing sun-related ailments increases.

Acne and Ingredients to Avoid

Acne is not a new problem; people have been suffering from it for many thousands of years. In ancient Egypt for instance, oils were often used to soften and smooth the skin. It is only in recent times that people have begun to use acne creams made of chemical ingredients like benzoyl peroxide, among others. These can not only have unwanted side effects, like the drying of healthy skin or the bleaching of clothing, but can be very costly.

It’s no mystery that our grandmothers seemed to know best. When it comes to health and skin, the more natural the ingredient, the better. Of course, there are times when natural remedies may not be as effective and that is Ok. However, just be aware of the natural options you have first, before you waste a lot of money on another product that doesn’t work. Many people today discovering the old-world secrets in caring for their bodies more naturally, and are turning to natural and herbal remedies, such as the following simple ‘kitchen cures’.

Acne Remedy #1: Make a paste of nutmeg powder and milk, and apply to your face in a thin layer. Leave on for up to an hour, or even overnight.

Acne Remedy #2: Take an orange peel and leave it to dry, and then grind it to a powder. Mix with water and apply directly to the pimple.

Acne Remedy #3: Applying garlic directly to a pimple can also be a great remedy, as garlic is a natural disinfectant.

Acne Remedy #4: Mix a spoonful each of fresh lemon juice and cinnamon. Apply to the acne overnight for several nights in a row to be effective.

Acne Remedy #5: Take fresh leaves of fenugreek and grind to make an acne remedy that is also said to be effective in reducing wrinkles. It should be left on for only fifteen minutes.

Acne Remedy #6: Papaya juice, which is high in natural enzymes, makes a wonderful acne solution all on its own.

Acne Remedy #7: Boil a cup of milk, and then allow to cool to room temperature, and add a spoonful of limejuice to make a acne face wash.

Acne Remedy #8: Mix rosewater, cucumber juice and lime juice in equal amounts. Apply to clean face and leave on overnight.

Chemical skin care ingredients you should avoid if you are acne-prone or have oily skin in combination with acne:
• Butyl stearate
• Cinnamon Oil
• Isotearyl isostearate
• Cocoa butter
• Jojoba oil
• Coconut oil
• Decyl oleate
• Myristyl myristate
• Myristyl propionate
• Octyl palminate
• Octyl stearate
• Peppermint Oil
• Isopropyl stearate
• Isopropyl, isostearate, myristate or palmitate

Try several of these natural remedies and see which one is best for you, be aware that it can take several days to have an effect. Make sure you use clean spoons and dishes to mix your remedies, and remember to wash your face as usual in between treatments.

Essential Oil Distillation

Today, most common essential oils, such as lavender, peppermint, and eucalyptus, are distilled. Raw plant material, consisting of the flowers, leaves, wood, bark, roots, seeds, or peel, is put into an alembic (distillation apparatus) over water. As the water is heated the steam passes through the plant material, vaporizing the volatile compounds. The vapors flow through a coil where they condense back to liquid, which is then collected in the receiving vessel.

Most oils are distilled in a single process. One exception is Ylang-ylang (Cananga odorata), which takes 22 hours to complete through a Fractional distillation.

The recondensed water is referred to as a hydrosol, hydrolat, herbal distillate or plant water essence, which may be sold as another fragrant product. Popular hydrosols are rose water, lavender water, lemon balm, clary sage and orange blossom water. The use of herbal distillates in cosmetics is increasing. Some plant hydrosols have unpleasant smells and are therefore not sold.

[edit] Expression

Most citrus peel oils are expressed mechanically, or cold-pressed. Due to the large quantities of oil in citrus peel and the relatively low cost to grow and harvest the raw materials, citrus-fruit oils are cheaper than most other essential oils. Lemon or sweet orange oils that are obtained as by-products of the citrus industry are even cheaper.

Prior to the discovery of distillation, all essential oils were extracted by pressing.

[edit] Solvent extraction

Most flowers contain too little volatile oil to undergo expression and their chemical components are too delicate and easily denatured by the high heat used in steam distillation. Instead, a solvent such as hexane or supercritical carbon dioxide is used to extract the oils. Extracts from hexane and other hydrophobic solvent are called concretes, which is a mixture of essential oil, waxes, resins, and other lipophilic (oil soluble) plant material.

Although highly fragrant, concretes contain large quantities of non-fragrant waxes and resins. As such another solvent, often ethyl alcohol, which only dissolves the fragrant low-molecular weight compounds, is used to extract the fragrant oil from the concrete. The alcohol is removed by a second distillation, leaving behind the absolute.

Supercritical carbon dioxide is used as a solvent in supercritical fluid extraction. This method has many benefits, including avoiding petrochemical residues in the product and the loss of some “top notes” when steam distillation is used. It does not yield an absolute directly. The supercritical carbon dioxide will extract both the waxes and the essential oils that make up the concrete. Subsequent processing with liquid carbon dioxide, achieved in the same extractor by merely lowering the extraction temperature, will separate the waxes from the essential oils. This lower temperature process prevents the decomposition and denaturing of compounds. When the extraction is complete, the pressure is reduced to ambient and the carbon dioxide reverts back to a gas, leaving no residue. An animated presentation describing the process is available for viewing.

Supercritical carbon dioxide is also used for making decaffeinated coffee. However, although it uses the same basic principals it is a different process because of the difference in scale.

[edit] Production quantities

Estimates of total production of essential oils are difficult to obtain. One estimate, compiled from data in 1989, 1990 and 1994 from various sources gives the following total production, in tonnes, of essential oils for which more than 1,000 tonnes were produced.^[1]

Oil	Tonnes
Sweet orange	12,000
Mentha arvensis	4,800
Peppermint	3,200
Cedarwood	2,600
Lemon	2,300
Eucalyptus globulus	2,070
Litsea cubeba	2,000
Clove (leaf)	2,000
Spearmint	1,300

[edit] Essential oil use in aromatherapy

Aromatherapy is a form of alternative medicine, in which healing effects are ascribed to the aromatic compounds in essential oils and other plant extracts. Many common essential oils have medicinal properties that have been applied in folk medicine since ancient times and are still widely used today. For example, many essential oils have antiseptic properties.^[2] Many are also claimed to have an uplifting effect on the mind.

Ineffective Facial Treatments

Every year, cosmetics companies introduce myriad new products, some of which are more notable than others. Still, with all of the advances that have been made in the beauty industry, products for acne-prone skin have remained largely unchanged.

There are hundreds of skin-care products, including facial cleansers, on the market that say they do everything from clear up acne to erase wrinkles. But do they really work?

The highly rated book “Don’t Go to the Cosmetics Counter Without Me” and companion website Beautypedia.com by Paula Begoun, combines detailed analysis of ingredients with hands-on testing to come up with Paula’s Picks. Consumer Reports and Natural Health magazine also provide informative reviews that are backed up by extensive testing and scientific opinion. The annual beauty awards presented by virtually every beauty magazine on the market serve as another good resource for finding effective facial cleansers, although some perform better in testing than others.

In her review of the best beauty products of 2007, for example, Paula Begoun describes acne products as “a slew of drying cleansers, irritating toners, ineffective BHA products, and a lack of topical disinfectants with benzoyl peroxide.” Begoun warns that for acne-prone individuals, careful shopping is a must.

For example, Proactiv Renewing Cleanserinfo (*Est. $40 for 4 oz. with toner and lotion), though heavily marketed, receives mixed reviews at consumer websites like MakeupAlley.com and TotalBeauty.com. Many consumers say it helps clear up blemishes within just a few days, but others say that after an initial period of effectiveness, it suddenly seems as though Proactiv Renewing Cleanser no longer works for them; one person reports her dermatologist’s agreement that this is a common finding. Others say Proactiv Renewing Cleanser is too harsh and irritating. Paula Begoun agrees; she says that many of Proactiv’s products “contain irritating ingredients that don’t help acne-prone skin.” She also states that including benzoyl peroxide in a cleanser (as Proactiv does) is effectively useless because the benefits it could provide are essentially washed down the drain. Benzoyl peroxide can also be irritating around the eyes. It should be noted that Begoun does think that some of Proactiv’s products are useful and effective, but not the entire package. In fact, she states that none of the so-called “acne kits” available on the market today are effective in their entirety.

The same can be said of the many skin-care lines created by doctors and dermatologists for profit. It’s wise to not assume these skin-care products are any better than the cleansers at your local drugstore, many of which use the same ingredients. In fact, the American Medical Association has issued guidelines advising physicians not to sell health-related products for profit, recognizing the conflict of interest this creates. Begoun, in her highly acclaimed book “Don’t Go to the Cosmetics Counter Without Me,” also points out that the phrases “Dermatologist Tested” and “Dermatologist Approved” are meaningless because there’s no standard for what these mean — they often only indicate that one or two dermatologists tried a skin-care product at the manufacturer’s request and liked how it felt.

Some companies have begun to add ingredients commonly used in moisturizers to their cleansers. Ingredients such as glycolic acid, antioxidants and even sunscreen are touted as adding additional benefits to the cleanser. Although experts at Allure magazine are skeptical of some of these ingredients, especially antioxidants and retinol, they say that cleansers with sunscreen, work surprisingly well. Sunscreen particles in these cleansers (titanium dioxide) are microencapsulated and stick to the skin, even after rinsing, as a result of film-forming agents. Editors still recommend using a moisturizer with SPF 15 or higher, though, because the cleanser provides only an SPF of 10, which is more for “incidental exposure than hard-core protection.”

Natural Skin Care Treatments

The fountain of youth may actually be located in your kitchen, not your plastic surgeon’s office. Certain Dermatology studies have shown through a three-tier approach involving diet, supplements, and creams, we can control the rate at which we age. And we can delay the need for surgical procedures, including facelifts, by 15 to 20 years — if we even get them at all.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to natural skin care using ingredients largely available in your own kitchen. Try this three-day nutritional facelift to get omega-3 fatty acids vital for natural skin care:

For lunch and dinner, eat:

* A green salad (making a dressing out of olive oil and lemon juice)
* 3-oz of broiled salmon or another cold water fish such as tuna or mackerel
* Strawberries, raspberries and/or blueberries for dessert.

Fatty fish are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, an important ingredient in natural skin care. A deficiency of omega-3s has been linked to a wide array of diseases as well as premature aging of the skin. Blueberries,strawberries, cranberries and raspberries are all loaded with antioxidants which save cells from premature aging.

For breakfast, choose a sensible breakfast that is low in carbohydrates and sugars. Also drink 8-10 glasses of water a day to keep skin hydrated and supple. After three days, this natural skin care diet will make such a difference in your appearance that people will say,
‘Wow!’ You will look as if someone turned a lamp on your skin. Your pores will be tighter. Your dark circles go away and you will look like you were on vacation. Here’s why: Inflammation is triggered by what we eat and sugar is the bad actor, say leading dermatologists. Anything that is sugar or rapidly converted to sugar (carbohydrates such as white rice, white breads or pasta) can attach to collagen and cause stiffness of skin and very old looking skin, he says. Collagen is a natural protein that forms connective tissues in the body.

Use Toners and Creams for Natural Skin Care

A facelift in a bottle. Sound too good to be true? It’s not if you choose a natural skin care cream rich in DMAE (dimetheyaminoethanol). If you apply it to your skin, it can enhance muscle tone — which stops sagging — and in just 30 minutes, your face is lifted, he says. Apply this natural skin care cream twice a day, once in the morning and once before bed. The longer you use the cream, the more pronounced the difference. It also acts as a natural anti-inflammatory and protects the skin from the irritation that can cause wrinkles and age-related skin damage.

Also consider natural skin care creams with alpha lipoic acid. It helps restore a healthy radiance to your skin. It also can tighten pores and diminish fine lines in just a few months. Another key ingredient in a natural skin care cream is vitamin C ester. It is fat soluble and thus penetrates the skin at 10 times higher levels than vitamin C [without ester]. It will thicken skin, decrease fine lines and is a necessity for a youthful appearance.

Aside from creams, a toner is an important aspect of natural skin care.Here’s a recipe for your own natural skin care toner.

Ingredients:

* 1 teaspoon of rosemary, dried
* 1 teaspoon thyme, dried
* 1 bay leaf
* 1 cup white wine

Gently boil herbs with white wine for 10 minutes. Allow herbs to cool in white wine for one hour. Drain off herbs and discard. Keep the liquid and transfer the strained toner to a clean glass jar. Store in refrigerator for one week. To use this natural skin care toner, dip a cotton ball in toner and dab on freshly washed skin before bed and in the morning. It’s refreshing, and it has anti-inflammatory properties. The alphahydroxy oils in wine encourage good healthy cell growth. Use it for any skin type except those parts of the skin that are dry and  irritated.

Take a multivitamin every day containing vitamin C, as well as vitamin E, for natural skin care. These vitamins are strong antioxidants and may help prevent damage done by free radical molecules in the body. Doctors also recommend taking 50 to 100 milligrams of alpha lipoic acid daily for natural skin care.

Underneath aging and age-related disease is low-grade inflammation. So the best ways to decrease disease risk and slow the aging process is to take nutrients with powerful anti-inflammatory activity on a regular basis. Enter alpha lipoic acid. Alpha lipoic acid is 400 times stronger than vitamins C and E combined, so it’s great for natural skin care. Our skin is always getting inflamed by sun, weather, pollution, and products because it is our interface between the environment and our body, but alpha lipoic acid will bring inflammation down.

Finally, for good natural skin care, take 30 milligrams a day of the antioxidant coenzyme Q-10 (CoQ10). Levels in the body decline due to age as well as excessive sunlight exposure, but reintroducing CoQ10 can help slow or even reverse the aging process, he says. You are going to see your skin look more radiant in just a few weeks

By trying these natural skin care treatments, you can save yourself thousands of dollars. Even better, you can get fresh-looking, healthy skin without pain or discomfort.

Lifestyle and Your Skin

“Is it too late to save my bad skin? I never paid much attention to my skin because I never had any skin problems. I never bothered with skin care products because I didn’t need to. Now I’m seeing wrinkles and spots forming, I guess it’s just too late to anything about it.” If this sounds like you, you may want to keep reading.Never fear, because there is still much that you can do to help your skin. If you are lost in sea of product choices, you can still be assured cosmetic dermatology can offer many alternative treatments.

Not surprisingly, many adults rarely consult a dermatologist that is until AFTER the signs of aging have appeared. Wrinkles, of course, are the chief complaint. Your skin may feel rough to the touch, and even sore, especially in drying environmental conditions such as on an airplane or in a low-humidity environment like the desert or high-altitude cities. In the winter, when indoor heating is used, your skin gets even more dehydrated, making the wrinkles look worse. Your skin may catch on rough clothing. You may also notice wrinkles on your neck or others parts of your body.

Those who have never had skin issues or were blessed to even have beautiful skin for most of the lives, are now desperate to address the skin wrinkles and many run to the dermatologist feeling a lot of regret. Although genes certainly play a role in one’s skin condition, decades of neglect, or even mistreatment of their skin is most frequently the source of their skin problems. Many say that if they knew then what they know now, they would have done things very differently and taken better care of their skin.
There are numerous explanations for unhealthy skin but the main causes tend to be an unhealthy diet, an ineffectual cleansing routine, and poor lifestyle choices.

Poor Diet
Your skin is a living, breathing organ of the body and it needs proper nourishment and hydration to look and feel its best. When your skin is deprived of the necessary vitamins, minerals, and nutrients that it needs it is unable to functional at optimal levels and the structure slowly begins to break down. This breakdown results in dry skin, blemishes, discoloration, wrinkles, and premature ageing.

In order to avoid this breakdown you need to feed your skin a varied mix of important nutrients each day. Ingesting sufficient amounts of vitamin A, a nutrient that can be found in citrus fruits and orange vegetables, can help you avoid dry skin and blemishes. Eating foods rich in the vitamin B group like brewer’s yeast or breads, or taking a vitamin B group supplement, can help you ward of skin discoloration, dry skin, dermatitis, shallow skin, and premature ageing.

To help discourage wrinkles, pale skin, sun damage, blemishes, and other unhealthy skin symptoms, nutrients like calcium, protein, iodine, niacin, folic acid, iron, and copper are very important to a healthy diet. Get these effective skin helpers by enjoying foods like mild, eggs, cheese, chicken, fish, leafy vegetables, fruits, and grains.

Poor Hygiene
Another common cause of unhealthy skin is poor hygiene. Whether this involves the failure to clean your skin often enough or the use of an ineffective cleansing routine, built-up dirt and grime can lead to blemishes, premature ageing, shallowness, dry skin, and wrinkles.

When your skin is not properly cleaned on a regular basis, dirt, pollution and other harmful substances are allowed to build up on your skin and clog the pores. Clogged pores result in breakouts, dry skin, and the reduction of cell renewal.

To get the most out of your cleansing routine make sure that you wash your skin twice a day, everyday. Also, make sure that you are using an effective cleanser like a soap that is specially formulated for deep cleansing. Make sure that you use gentle pressure when cleaning the skin, do not scrub or pull on the skin since this can result in tiny tears that are susceptible to irritation and infection. Finally, always follow your cleansing routine with a hydrating moisturizer that also contains a sunscreen in order to hydrate your skin and protect it from sun damage.

Bad Lifestyle Habits
Even if you enjoy a healthy diet and pay special attention to your skin care regime you can still be sabotaging the health of your skin by indulging in unhealthy habits. Habits like sun tanning, smoking, choosing fizzy drinks or sodas over water, and wearing heavy makeup can lead to the development of unhealthy skin. Avoid excessive sun exposure, always wear sunscreen with an SPF (sun protection factor) of at least 15, stop smoking and avoid those who smoke, drink plenty of water, and choose light cosmetics if you want your skin to stay young and healthy looking for years to come.