Monday, March 2, 2009

Should I Be Using A Moisturizer With Sunscreen?

By Peter Albertonach

Most people know that one of the worst things you can do for your skin is to get sunburned. So should you using a moisturizer with sunscreen?

But believe it or not the answer isn't as clear as you might expect.

Theres no doubt that sunburn is really bad for our skin, in fact sunburn is probably one of the single worst things you can do to your skin.

If you really want to make sure your skin looks older with more sagging, wrinkles, dryness and lines just make sure you get regularly sunburned from an early age.

Not to mention skin cancer.

So surely it makes sense to use a facial moisturizer with sunscreen with an spf as high as you can get?

Not necessarily, though I'm certainly not saying that its fine to get sunburned.

Why isnt it a good idea to use a moisturizer with an spf factor? Because there is evidence that the daily use of sunscreens can be dangerous to your health, and even some suggestion that daily use of an spf moisturizer could lead to cancer.

Now it certainly isn't proven yet, but is suspected by many scientists. If, say, you use a sunscreen normally around 5 or 6 times a year then the risk is lower, but if you use a moisturizer then the chances are that you use it every day, so the risk is higher as you are using a sunscreen daily, and many days when you don't need it.

There are different types of sunscreen. Particularly 2 different types, those that work in the skin once they have been absorbed into the skin, and those that stay on the surface of the skin and dont soak in, like zinc or titanium sunblocks.

If a sunscreen soaks in then some of it will get into your blood. This could be dangerous. And skin care products with sunscreens use the type that soaks in because it looks and feels better on your skin.

Spf factor is produced by use of synthetic chemicals, and its always a concern getting synthetic chemicals into your bloodstream.

And there's more. If you block the sun to your face every day it's possible that you could start to suffer from vitamin D deficiency. There are studies that show that anything up to 60% of Americans suffer from a deficiency of vitamin D. (Though not all caused by sunscreen use by any means).

So what should you do?

Use the highest quality moisturizer with no sunscreen added. In fact the manufacturer of the worlds best skin care products specifically avoids using an spf factor in their products for all the reasons outlined.

And wait till there's a day when you really think you need a spf factor, then use a sunscreen with either zinc or titanium. On other days you won't need one, and then you can stock up on that vitamin D.

Visit my website to find out more about the best skin care products that don't have any sunscreen. - 15634

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