Inside Secrets ... What Your Aging Is All About
Nature vs. Nurture: How Mother Nature can
save your skin from Father Time

Much like a tree trunk that shows its age with one growth ring revealing each year of its life, so too, our skin reflects our age. Left to the ravages of time and the environment, nature takes its course, and our face takes on lines.
This is some information that you will enjoy and please pass on to all your friends.

Intrinsic Aging Factors: Accounts for only 10% of your aging. Factors include your family heredity and background, types of skin.

Actinic Aging Factors: Responsible for 90% of your visible aging directly related to the sun including wrinkling, sagging, discoloration, pigmented spots, thin skin, spider veins and lack of color.

UVA: Ultra-Violet Aging that will destroy your collagen and elastin which creates sagging.

UVB: Ultra-Violet Burning that will burn your skin and will increase the risk of skin cancer.

SPF: stands for "SUN PROTECTION FACTOR" and indicates how much longer you can stay in the sun wearing sunscreen before you burn than you would without wearing any sunscreen at all. SPF numbers generally range from 2 to 50 and anything over 30…gives a little extra protection from the sun and can make the skin more sensitive or irritating. NOTE: Some high SPF Sunscreen products over 30 SPF have cause chemical burns.

SPF is measured by determining how long it takes you to "burn" with and without a product sunscreen on your skin. If it takes 10 times longer with a sunscreen product on then the product has an SPF of 10. If it only take twice as long the product has an SPF of 2. In reality, the testing labs do no really burn the test subjects; they give them enough UVR to cause the skin to barely turn red. This minimum dose is called MED which means (minimal erthemal dose).

Sunscreens: are chemical components that when applied topically keep UVR from reaching the skin. They work by absorbing the UVR or by reflecting it. There are two types of sunscreens: organic and inorganic(physical)

Organic Sunscreens: These sunscreens have been the mainstay of over the counter products for years and this means that they are composed of, among other ingredients, carbon and hydrogen. Only organic sunscreens only block UVB rays. Several organic sunscreen ingredients listed below are associated with adverse or allergic skin reactions:

1. PABA - (para aminobenzoic acid) is probably the most famous sunscreen(today most sunscreens products are "PABA Free".

2. BENZOPHENONE - (oxybenzone)-this one has as many if not more adverse skin reactions as PABA.

Inorganic (physical) Sunscreens: These sunscreens are actually microscopic solid pieces of sunscreen usually containing Zinc Oxide or Titanium Dioxide.

1. Zinc Oxide & Titanium Dioxide - associated with the white thick texture lifeguards used to use. It was known to be the best sun block but was cosmetically unacceptable and used only for lifeguards and cancer patients. These sunscreens block UVA rays.

2. Parsol 1789 - Used by a skincare company called Arbonne to protect against UVA rays.

3. Polyquaternium 59 - Used by Arbonne to protect against UVB rays in your hair and its fiber strength, and protects your skin surface lipids and proteins.

Transparent Sunscreens: These are the new space age physical sunscreens and are transparent. Zinc Oxide is now manufactured so that the particles are so small that you cannot see them. They are referred to as Z-Cote.

1. Z-Cote (micro fine zinc oxide) and other fine powders as these ingredients in their sunscreens. Zinc Oxide has a safe history of its use in baby and sun care products.

HERE ARE SOME INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT YOUR SKIN

Your skin is the largest organ weighing 16% of your total body weight. It is made up of three layers: Epidermis, Dermis and Sub dermis.

1. Epidermis - the outermost layer which is made up of Keratin which forms new cells and they work their way to the surface. It is primarily made up of nerve cells, blood vessels and connective tissue layers. It also has some cells that do not float known as melanocytes, which produce Melanin. In the epidermis is the Langerhans Cells, which are part of your immune system, and they help to ward off bacteria and aid in the elimination of free radicals. Unprotected UVR exposure damages these cells as well.

2. Dermis - is home to collagen ( 5 types of collagen) each with its own characteristics and location, which provides strength and texture for you.

3. Sub-dermis - this is made up of mainly fat cells.

Tan: A tan is only partially protective with an SPF of about a "4". In other words there is no such thing as a healthy tan because to get the tan you need to expose yourself to dangerous amounts of radiation. NOTE: darker skin types are naturally more protected than fair types but they both get skin cancers and will show visible signs of aging. Using a tanning bed is not a safe alternative to the sun as they both cause skin damage. A tanning bed may be not burning you, however it ages the skin.

Melanin - is a brown colored protein that determines our skin color and is produced by the melanocyte cells in the Epidermis. When exposed to the sun our melanocytes produce more melanin hence a "tan". The melanin's job is to protect us from the damaging UVB rays.

Freckles - These are flat, circular spots that may vary in size that develop randomly on the skin due to less melanin in the skin and common in fair skin types especially redheads. Irrespective of skin color it is an uneven distribution of melanin pigment in the skin that develops into a freckle. Freckles are influenced by genetic factors and heredity as well. People with freckles are highly vulnerable to the sun and should always wear sunscreen year-round.

Liver spots - also called age spots which have nothing to do with the liver. They are known as lentigines (lentigo-type freckles).
Here are some websites containing information on sun damage : www.medicinenet.com, www.skincareRX.com www.kidshealth.com www.rosacea.org.

References: Candace Keefe, Sr. Vice-President, Product Development & Marketing-Arbonne International.

Arbonne Skin Care Products:

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