Vitamin D and Surviving the Sun

Vitamin D and Surviving the Sun

You’re well into a sweltering summer, comforted by the notion that you’ve taken adequate steps to protect your complexion with a high spectrum sunscreen that promises your skin will survive the summer unscathed.

But what will you use to protect your skin from your sunscreen?  Is that something you should even be concerned with at all?  You might be surprised.

..our body relies on some of this sunlight to produce vitamin D3 which is a vital nutrient. 

Sunscreens can lead to more damage indirectly to your skin than you probably ever imagined.

There are two main issues here.  The first is determine when to use a sunscreen, and when not to.  And the second question is how to adjust your skincare routine to compensate for the challenges sunscreens present when you want to keep your skin clear and healthy.

Without doing a deep dive into the recent findings that the overuse of sunscreens was contributing to an increase in the rise of vitamin D3 deficiencies, it bears noting that it is widely accepted that our skin requires approximately 10 minutes of direct sunlight per day to maintain a healthy function. 

We are dynamic beings designed to forage for our food and move about.  So nature intended that we expose ourselves to a certain amount of regular sunlight to remain healthy.  You’ve heard that our body relies on some of this sunlight to produce vitamin D3 which is a vital nutrient. 

...sunscreen forms an impenetrable film over your skin to be effective – and then stay there!

Suffice to say, if in the course of your average day, you step out into the direct sunlight for less than an hour, in most climates you don’t require a sunscreen.  If you use a sunscreen every day, even during brief exposure, you may be unwittingly inviting more dire health risks than the UV damage you are protecting yourself from.  There are many studies that support this theory.

What isn’t making so many headlines is the hidden challenge sunscreens pose in keeping your skin clean, clear, and balanced. 

The challenge stems from the very design and formulation of sunscreens.  For a sunscreen to work, it has to form a barrier to prevent a spectrum of UV light getting through to your skin.  Much like the ceramic tiles on the NASA Space Shuttle, the sunscreen has to form an impenetrable film over your skin to be effective – and then stay there! 

This implies that by design, the sunscreen has to form a barrier that will not only prevent UV light getting through, but also block your skins natural function to breathe and regulate body moisture, disrupt the delicate pH and vital biological ecosystem we refer to as the “microbiome”, and allow the regular shedding of the dead surface cells of the skin. 

For the sake of the argument, we’ll skip past the lesser hazards sunscreens present.  Let’s accept the idea that your UV exposure is such that requires you to protect yourself with a sunscreen.   You apply a broad spectrum and avoid damaging sunburn.  Excellent!  Harm has been averted – at least from the UV.  But what about your cleanser?

Have you ever noticed the extra effort it takes to wash off sunscreen when you shower?  That’s because sunscreens and no-smear or no-run makeup is designed to adhere to the skin throughout rigorous activity – even swimming.  It’s intended by design to resist coming off easily. 

I’ve attended many conferences for sunscreen design and technology.  All of the focus is on making a less penetrable barrier that adheres longer to the skin.   The same applies to makeup formulation.  The goal is to design for better and longer lasting coverage.  But this poses big problems for healthy skin. 

..soap is cheap...it contributes more to premature ageing than the UV you are trying to avoid.

Advances in this technology have outpaced development in cleansers.  And that is because the big marquee brands do not see cleansers as hero products.  Sunscreens, makeup, and anti-ageing products get the attention and the headlines.  Cleansers are an afterthought by comparison.

This is the great paradox that exists in the skincare market.  Modern design poses greater challenges to keeping the skin healthy.  Having to revert to using stronger and more severe soaps and cleansers contributes more to skin imbalances and premature ageing than any amount of damaging UV 90% of us are exposed to daily.  

Simply put, ALL SOAPS are ageing to the skin.  The alkaline detergents and foaming agents (SLS) strip the delicate acid mantel of the skin, dehydrate the tissue, destroy the microbiome, and send the skin into a stress mode.  This daily imposed stress takes its toll.  It makes demands on the immune system and weakens skin structure and function, which leads to premature ageing when your skin fails to repair adequately. 

But soap is cheap and removes stubborn sunscreen and makeup.  When you use it every day, the cumulative effect is that it contributes more to premature ageing than the UV you are trying to avoid. 

The antidote lies in avoiding soap altogether.  Soap-free alternatives are not as cheap as soap.  But they are far and away the most cost effective anti-ageing weapon you can put in your bathroom. 

..you don’t want to win the battle only to lose the war. 

Be aware also that liquid cleansers are often just soap in a bottle.  It is a long held belief that liquid cleansers are soap-free.  Almost all are simply soap in a liquid form for convenience or to intentionally deceive. 

Whether your cleanser comes in a bottle or as a solid cake form, make sure it says it is “100% soap free”.  If it doesn’t, it’s almost certainly a form of alkaline detergent that will age your skin more than the UV rays you’re using sunscreen to protect your skin from.

In the pursuit of obtaining a youthful and healthy skin, you don’t want to win the battle only to lose the war.