SPECIFIC SKIN CARE DURING THE SUMMER

SUMMER - SUN - SUN PROTECTION

Finally, the Summer arrives! The air is warm and the mood improves. Away with the heavy clothes and right into lighter clothes showing more skin once again. But now, the winter paleness should give way to a healthy tanning. But what must be taken into account to avoid that a “healthy” tanning should lead to premature skin ageing or have even more serious later effects such as skin cancer?

Because our skin - our largest organ - does not forget. Often, the bill for a much too careless behaviour towards the sun is presented only years or decades later: when one is lucky enough, one will have “only” suffered from premature skin ageing, but in the worst case, it may be skin cancer.

HOW DO UV-RAYS AFFECT THE SKIN?

UVA rays lead to fast tanning, which however does not last for very long. The UVA rays with longer waves penetrated deeply into the skin, damages the binding tissue and makes the skin age faster. It is considered certain that is also damages the immune system and it seems probable that they can lead to skin cancer.

The UVB rays with shorter oscillation and therefore higher energy only penetrate the superior part of the skin (epidermis) and cause a tan appearing late, but a quite durable one. UVB however is also responsible for the appearance of sunburn, and therefore represents a high risk factor for skin cancer. A biologically sensible effect of the UVB rays is the building up of a so-called light callus, a thickening of the epidermis which, if sufficiently extended, protects the deeper skin layers from UV damage.

The tanning wanted so desperately by so many people is a protective mechanism of the skin. It appears through the production of melanin in the pigment producing skin layers through the UVB rays. This colouring agent then settles like a dark, protective coat around the cell cores, absorbs a large part of the arriving UV light and therefore protects the DNA hereditary information from ray-related damage.

If the endogenous UV-protection measures are not sufficient, the UVB-rays lead to the excretion of inflammatory agents, the prostate glandins. These in turn lead to the typical symptoms of a sunburn: Red spots, swelling, burning and itching of the skin. In most cases, it may well heal after a few days, but in most cases it accelerates the skin ageing and wrinkles and ageing spots appear prematurely.

In the worst case scenario however, the UV rays can damage the hereditary substance so massively, that the body-endogenous repair mechanisms are overwhelmed and the cells part uncontrollably - skin cancer appears. Particularly sunburns as a child significantly raise the probability of developing a malignant melanoma.

EFFECTIVE PROTECTION AGAINST UV RAYS

The effective sun block measure is also the simplest: stay in the shadow! This applies especially to the time between 11 am and 3 pm, during which the sun rays are 150 times stronger than in the morning or in the evening. Children and babies should stay in the shadow as well, since child skin is exposed to a sunburn risk which is about ten times as high as that of an adult.

If you want to expose your skin directly to the sun however, you should not spare the effective sun block products such as the BELICO® SUN CARE. These contain substances, which UV rays pick up and transform into (harmless) warmth. To unfold this effect, they should however be applied about 30 minute before the sunbath already. Physically acting agents contain pigments such as zinc or titan oxide, which reflect UV light and therefore prevent penetration into deeper skin layers. They have an immediate effect, but can give the skin a slightly white glow. Anti-oxidants such as vitamin E and white tea extract protect the skin additionally by catching free radicals, which appear through UV-light, and neutralizing them.

A shortcoming of the light protection factor is, that it makes specific indications only regarding UVB protection. Today however, we know that an excess of UVA can have serious health deteriorating effects as well. This is the reason why the UVA-protection is now marked by a specific logo on the package. It is composed of the letters “UVA” in a circle and signals that the UVA protection of the product amounts to a third of the protection against UVB rays. This new marking replaces the so-called “Australian standard” which was usual up until now.

SOOTHING EFFECT OF SUN PRODUCTS

A sun blocking product should not only protect from UV-rays, but it should soothe the skin as well! This gives a particular importance to choosing the right oils. Often, mineral oils obtained from crude oil are used to retain moisture in the skin through their “skin sealing” effect. This prevents the sweat excretion, which can lead to cluttered sweat glands (miliaria). Alternatively, one could use natural oils, which protect the skin from drying out and possess similar properties as those of natural skin talcum. Fragrance substances should be avoided, since they can induce pigmentation disturbances. A further problem can be constituted by the often used PEG-containing emusifiers. These may be extremely stable, but have the downside that they can bring forth sun allergies (Mallorca-acne) with sensitive people by the production of highly creative peroxides through the combined effect of oxygen and UV-rays.

The conservation of sun block products deserves particular attention: The often used methyl paraben has been determined by the newest Japanese studies to speed up the skin ageing process under UV lights, since the dying rate of the skin cells is three times as high as when using preparations, which do not contain this conservative agent, according to Professor Yoshikawa.

OLARIUM AND TANNING_SUPPORT

Solariums emit 100 to 500 times stronger UVA rays than sunlight, depending on the device. On the other hand, the UV-B-concentration is quite low, allowing almost no sunburn to appear. Since UVA penetrates all the way to the dermis and strongly dries out the skin, one should be aware of changes in the collagen fibres, which increases the risk of a premature skin ageing. This is the reason why the use of special anti-ageing ingredients, antioxidative Vitamins and moisturizing agents such as in the BELICO® CONCENTRATE I or in the PRE TAN & AFTER SUN is advisable.

It is still a frequent wish to reach a maximum tanning as fast as possible. This is the reason why the BELICO® PRE TAN & AFTZER SUN contains the tanning accelerator promelan, which stimulates the melanin formation. Pleasant side-effect: Through the appearing, strengthened own protection of the skin in form of the higher melanin production, sun damage to the skin can be prevented as well.

SKIN CARE AFTER THE SUN

Through sun rays, the skin can quickly react with red spots and irritations. Acting agents such as aloe vera, white tea extract, allantoin and panthenol in the BELICO® PRE TAN & AFTER SUN noticeably calm the skin. The healing, alleviating and moisturizing properties of Aloe Vera, balloon vine and echium oil in the CONCENTRATE IV provide a considerable alleviation in case of red spots and irritation, when the skin has endured too much sun once more. The moisturizing gel mask MASK III is also regarded as being particularly cooling and soothing. The patented cell protection agent ectoin is an efficient component of the main treatment, which reduces the unhealthy effects of sunrays, of pollution and of stress.

TANNING WITHOUT THE SUN - SELF-TANNING PRODUCTS

Through the combination of trivalent sugar molecules (DHA+erythrulosis) the upper skin flakes are coloured brown. This enables a tanning of the skin without the inherent risks of the exposition to sun rays. The fluid consistency of the BELICO®  BRONZING GEL provides a very regular tanning effect on the body, which stays in place during a few days. An addition of geranium oil insures a pleasant smell, which allows avoiding the typical smell of self-tanning products.

PIGMENTATION SPOTS (HYPER PIGMENTATION)

A successful reduction of pigmentation spots can be achieved by using substances which inhibit the melanin synthesis and by protecting the skin from UV rays to avoid stimulating the melanin production.

For this purpose, the CONCENTRATE V contains a combination of the highly effective agents alpha-arbutin, melanox and vitamin c, which inhibit the melanin synthesis by blocking certain enzymes. An appropriately high light protection should then be insured by using the BELICO® SUN CARE.

Through the regular application of the FACIAL PEELING I, brown coloured skin flakes can be loosened faster on the surface, which allows for a reduction of pigmentation spots.