SPF in Winter | You probably think you’re especially safe from the sun’s skin-aging effects during the cloudier, grayer days of winter…right? Wrong! It's a big mistake! Huge mistake!
Most people want to ease up on sunscreen use during the winter, as the sun feels weaker and they are less likely to burn. But that's a mistake. Only one of the two UV perpetrators, UVB, is actually lessened by clouds and winter. The other, UVA, is very much present year-round.
Before we dive any deeper, here’s a quick refresher on UVA and UVB rays:
UVA: Ultraviolet A rays, also called "long wave" rays, make up 95 percent of the rays that reach the surface of the Earth. They can penetrate the skin much deeper than UVB rays and damage collagen and elastin in your skin, resulting in acceleration of fine lines and wrinkles and trigger melanocytes leading to dark spots. They also can initiate skin cancers. These are the rays that make you more tanned. UVA rays can penetrate glass and clouds. These harmful rays can not only can cause skin cancer, but are also the source of about 90 percent of all wrinkles
UVB: Ultraviolet B rays, or "shortwave" rays, don’t penetrate the skin as deeply. They're what causes redness and sunburns. They are most intense from early spring to autumn and during the day’s sunniest hours. UVB rays are not as likely to penetrate glass as UVA rays, but even though they dwindle in the winter, many can reach the Earth’s surface and are easily reflected off snow and ice. Snow and ice can reflect up to 90% of UV rays. This makes them a bigger threat on the ski slopes, and at higher altitudes on sunny days. But the point here is that UVA & B rays are basically omnipresent all year round, even in small amounts.
Your skin is not protected from Sun whilst indoors
Even if you work in an office all day long, you shouldn’t skip sunscreen. This is especially true if you sit near a window or drive to work. According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, glass blocks UVB rays well, but not UVA rays. The same goes for glass windows on planes, buses, and in cars, per the Skin Cancer Foundation. Even this small dose of sunlight may impact your skin. One study found that people sitting near windows had more wrinkles and deeper crow’s feet on the side of their faces exposed to the window. Of course, there’s also the blue light from computers and screens that may be a concern.
So unless you work or live like a vampire in a window-less underground dungeon, wear sunscreen even when indoors!
Winter's thin Ozone Layer is more dangerous
The ozone layer acts as Earth’s sun shield, absorbing harmful UV rays. However, the ozone layer is actually at its thinnest in the winter. Windburn and sunburn also act together during the winter months. The freezing temperatures and vicious winds that leave your skin dry and agitated allow for UV rays to have a better shot at your skin. Wearing sunscreen on exposed skin, especially when the sun’s rays are strongest between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., will keep you protected from these damaging rays.
While there are less direct UV rays in the winter, there is a significant reflection of these rays which can still easily cause sunburn. Even if you don’t get burned, the UV rays are still at work causing wrinkles and aging the skin.
" UVA & UVB are omnipresent all year round."
SPF in winter will help you age slower!
Even in the winter in UK and Europe, I recommend that you wear sunscreen daily to prevent cumulative sun exposure and the resulting fine lines, wrinkles, discoloration, and even skin cancer. It is important that your sunscreen is ‘broad spectrum', as that denotes full coverage, including UVA protection. Sunscreen is an unsung anti-ageing hero and is probably the best age-delay and age-reversing product out there.
Look for physical sunscreens—ones with active ingredients like zinc oxide and titanium dioxide that physically block the damaging rays—that you apply from hand to body.
Think of it this way: Let’s say you’re 30 now. In 30 years, would you rather look closer to 70 or 50? If you’d rather look younger, for longer…wear SPF daily.
"Sunscreen is an unsung anti-ageing hero and is probably the best age-delay and age-reversing product out there."
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