Issue link: https://www.ascpskindeepdigital.com/i/460894
Create your free business website! www.ascpskincare.com 7 beyond the basics Understanding Sun Protection by Mark Lees Sun is, by far, the skin's ultimate enemy. It causes skin cancer, premature aging, and a multitude of uglies including hyperpigmentation (age spots), severe wrinkles, and sagging. Educating your clients about proper sun protection is the biggest help you can give their skin—and the ideal time is now, before warm-weather activities start! New Got a skin question for Mark Lees? Send it to editor@ascpskincare.com! column! Continued a What should I look for when recommending sunscreens? The fi rst thing you should look for is broad-spectrum protection—this means the sunscreen protects the skin from both ultraviolet A (UVA) and ultraviolet B (UVB) rays. UVA rays damage the deeper dermal tissues and are responsible for premature aging— including wrinkles, elastosis (sagging), and many pigment issues—as well as melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer. UVB rays damage the outer skin layers, causing sunburns and skin cancers. Federal law regulates the term broad spectrum. Sunscreens can't use this term on their label unless they pass the Critical Wavelength test, which is administered by an independent laboratory and measures how much of the UV light spectrum is being screened. The SPF rating measures how much longer a sunscreen will prevent visible infl ammation compared to not wearing any sunscreen. For example, if you normally begin to get a sunburn after 15 minutes of unprotected exposure to the sun, a sunscreen with an SPF of 2 will allow you to stay out twice as long (30