Skin care is not just for the vain. Or wealthy "women who lunch". Or fashionistas and celebrities.
Taking good care of one's skin is not something that should be limited by skin color, ethnicity, age or financial status. It is the outer layer of human bodies, and for that reason alone, attention should be paid to it.
But for those who need more concrete reasons why taking care of their skin should be on their priority list, here are three reasons all women should protect their skin:
1. Vanity.
Wanting to look good is not the only reason one needs to pay attention to their skin, but it sure is a good one. This might mean drinking lots of water and eating "clean" foods to care of one's skin from the inside out.
Or perhaps it is as easy as shopping for the appropriate creams, washes and lotions to moisturize, clean and protect the outer layer of skin. There are many ways to create and/or keep gorgeous skin, and wanting that "gracefully" aging, natural beauty look is a great reason.
2. Staying healthy.
Protecting one's skin can not only keep someone healthy but it can extend or save one's life. Wearing sunscreen at all times, even it it is cloudy or one has more melanin in one's skin, can simply keep that person alive.
People can get skin cancer even if they do not live in sunny California. People of color can get skin cancer even though they have a mild natural SPF as a result of their darker skin color (and higher level of melanin).
Wearing at least 15 SPF (although some experts suggest 30 SPF) can help prevent some of the more than 2 million skin cancer cases that are diagnosed each year, or more importantly the 12,000 deaths.
3. Be a good example.
Protecting one's skin by using sunscreen, taking supplements or using appropriate products can affect future generations. Perhaps women of color did not learn from their mothers and grandmothers about the importance of sunscreen because the knowledge just was not there in that community in the past.
However, maybe their daughters can learn about it and make better choices for themselves. Melanoma skin cancer is on the rise in girls ages 10 to 19 but perhaps if there were better models, those numbers would decrease.
Being a good example for younger women and girls is a great, altruistic reason to counteract reason number 1. (vanity)
It does not matter why one takes steps to protect one's skin, just that they do it. And do it today.
Sources:
Cancer.org. Web. 29 March 2012. "skin cancer facts". http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/CancerCauses/SunandUVExposure/skin-cancer-facts
Skincancer.org. Web. 29 March 2012. "Skin Cancer Facts". http://www.skincancer.org/skin-cancer-information/skin-cancer-facts
Reviewed April 2, 2012
by Michele Blacksberg RN
Edited by Jessica Obert