Save Your Skin: Sun Protection

Sun Safety

Who doesn't love a little sunshine -- the way it warms up the skin and makes an ordinary day feel just a little like a vacation? But if you also love healthy skin -- smooth, vibrant, vital -- then listen up. The sun's ultraviolet waves (UVA and UVB rays), which are present year-round and in all climates, play a significant role in "photo damage," also known as premature skin aging. What this means is that those feel-good rays are also to blame for your biggest skin woes. "Photo damage is characterized by skin that has a leathery texture, wrinkling, freckling -- often diffused so that the skin's tone appears uneven -- as well as large pores and broken capillaries," says Jeannette Graf, MD, a dermatologist in Great Neck, New York, who is affiliated with New York University Medical Center.

The good news here -- and there is good news -- is that you have the power to keep your skin healthy and beautiful. All it takes is a little sun-protection know-how, as well as the best of the new product innovations.