The Skinny On Sunscreen

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The Skinny On Sunscreen

Not all sunscreens are created equal. With a few brand new ingredients and products on the shelves, it’s even more important to pick the right ones. You want to get the most for your skin and your dollars; Dr. Lain with Steiner Ranch Dermatology has you covered.
Understanding why you need a sunscreen and what a tan really does to your skin is the key to younger healthier skin. So what does a tan mean to your body, besides darker skin? A tan is your body’s response to an injury – sunlight causes damage to the DNA in the skin cells, which triggers the pigment producing cells to work harder. The pigment they produce, called melanin, literally provides a sun shade over the DNA of the cells, protecting them from future sun damage. So as the damage increases, the pigment production increases, and your tan gets darker.
What’s the latest on the sunscreen scene? Soon we should see sunscreens with a new rating system that goes beyond SPF, which is an indication of how well the sunscreen blocks UVB rays only. The new system will tell you how well the product blocks UVA and UVB rays, with a star rating for UVA protection added to the SPF rating for UVB protection. Dr. Ted Lain advises looking for an SPF of at least 30 and a star rating of at least 3 out of 4.