London Drugs

Focus On Health

Screening Out The Sun

Sun on the Skin

The True Impact of Sun on the Skin

There is no such thing as a “healthy tan.” The brown colouration of the skin (caused by the pigment melanin), is a sign that it has already suffered the damaging effects of the sun.

Sunlight has a profound and detrimental effect on the body, including premature aging of the skin, skin cancer and lowered immunity against infection. The damage to the skin is cumulative, meaning our skins reflect a lifetime of sun damage. (Just compare an area of sun-exposed skin such as the neck or back of the hands with an area that has received very little or no sun exposure, such as the derrière...)

Two lengths of ultraviolet (UV) light reach the surface of the earth - and us. These are UVA and UVB light.

UVA light - once believed to be harmless - is a major contributor to skin damage. UVA penetrates deeply into the skin and is not filtered out by glass. (Your skin can be damaged simply by sitting near a window day after day.) The intensity of UVA radiation does not vary throughout the day or year in the same way as UVB. This type of light is often touted by tanning salons as being “safe” sunlight, but this is far from the truth.

UVB light affects the outer layer of skin, the epidermis, and is the wavelength responsible for sunburns. It is the most intense between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. when the sunlight is brightest. UVB light is also more intense in the summer months accounting for 70 percent of a person's annual accumulation of UVB. This wavelength does not penetrate glass.

Ensuring your skin stays as young-looking as possible is easy if you make the commitment to wearing a broad spectrum sunscreen every day.

Vichy Laboratories Capital Soleil sunscreens contain Mexoryl® SX and provide long-lasting, broad spectrum sun protection.