Photo courtesy Foamorder.com
If you’ve often heard you should apply night cream religiously before bed, here’s why. Dr. David E. Bank states in the January 2008 issue of Health magazine that core internal temperature rises at night and the facial muscles and pores relax, allowing for skin care ingredients to penetrate the skin more deeply (and hence have greater effect).
For greatest effect, most dermatologists recommend using ingredients like retinoids or AHAs at night, which can make the skin photosensitive and hence more susceptible to sun damage when used during the day. (Sensitive skin note: You may only want to use these ingredients 2-3 times a week.) You may also want to use peptides to firm the skin. And don’t forget about antioxidants. Unfortunately, at this time it is unclear by which pathways which antioxidants scavenge free radicals. As such, some dermatologists recommend using different antioxidants during the day than at night (cover all your bases, that sort of thing). I personally like to use antioxidants vitamin C and E in the morning under sunscreen, which boost sunscreen protection, and then switch to coffeeberry or idebenone at night. 
Happy sleeping!
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March 25th, 2008
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futurederm |
Quick Questions |
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If you read this blog often enough, you’ll know that I am a sunscreen fanatic. So imagine my excitement when I stumbled upon Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry Touch Sunscreen SPF 85 ($10.44, Drugstore.com). New for the summer, Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry Touch Sunscreen SPF 85 combines the powerful UVA protection of the HelioplexTM complex (avobenzone and oxybenzone) plus an almost-unheard of UVB, 85!
What makes SPF 85 so great?
According to Dr. Leslie Baumann, author of Cosmetic Dermatology, the Sun Protection Factor (SPF) commonly listed on products refers to the amount of UVB protection, measured by the time it takes for a person without sunscreen versus a person with sunscreen to show a erythemal skin reaction (i.e., to show redness).
The amount of UVB an SPF is effective at blocking may be estimated using the following algorithm from Dr. Rachel Herschenfeld: SPF 30 allows 1/30 UVB rays, or 3.3% through, meaning it blocks about 96.6% of UVB rays; SPF 50 allows 1/50 UVB rays, or 2.0% through, meaning it blocks 98.0% of UVB rays. An SPF of 80 means that only 1/80, or 1.25% of rays get through, meaning that Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry Touch Sunscreen SPF 85 is blocking 98.75% of the sun’s rays. Pretty impressive!
And if you mathematicians out there noticed that there is a bigger increase when you move from SPF 30 to SPF 50 than from SPF 50 to SPF 80, you are correct. The higher the numbers go, the smaller the amount of protection inferred with each increase. Still, I would rather get 98.75% of the rays blocked with Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry Touch Sunscreen SPF 85 than 98.0% with an SPF 50!
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March 25th, 2008
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futurederm |
sunscreen |
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