Tag Archives: protection

01.27.09
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How to safeguard yourself against malignant melanoma

How to safeguard yourself against malignant melanoma
By Samuel Broder

The term malignant melanoma and melanoma describe the most serious form of skin cancer, whose frequency is rising due to increasing sun exposures, especially when intermittent high-dose exposures (sunburns) come into play. Melanomas originate in melanocytes, which are specialized skin cells that make a protective brown pigment (melanin) to shield the skin against the harmful effects of the sun. Melanomas may arise in a mole (nevus). Individuals with a special skin condition called dysplastic nevi are at increased risk, as are people with a very large number (more than 50) of ‘ordinary’ moles.

full article HERE

08.20.08
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Natural Skin Care Is More Vital Than Ever In the Summer Sun

Here is an article from http://www.articlecodex.com:

According to some experts, about 70% of sun damage occurs during our every day activities – walking to the car, going in and out of buildings, walking along the street shopping, and so on – not while we’re sunbathing. Unfortunately, this means we have to wear sunscreen just about every time we leave the house. In light of the fact that sunscreen can be pretty toxic, that’s bad news for anyone who prefers natural skin care. The good news is that there are alternatives, one of which is a (http://media.skinmdnatural.com/news_index.php) product you can wear under sunscreen to protect you from dangerous chemicals.

The first and most obvious alternative, however, is to cover up. But what you cover up with is important: The clothes we would prefer on a warm summer day – lightweight, light-colored clothing made with loosely-woven fabric – do not offer much protection. That’s why kids who swim with T-shirts over their bathing suit still get burned.

To completely block UV rays you need clothing with a ultraviolet protection factor (UPF) of about 1700. A white T-shirt has a UPF of seven. The same T-shirt in green has a UPF of 10. A dark, thick fabric like velvet comes in at about 50. To reach 1700 you’d need a long-sleeved dark denim shirt. Not exactly anyone’s idea of fun in the sun.

The long and short of it is that while we may be willing and able to cover up with high UPF clothing in some circumstances, there’s no way that’s going to fly at the beach. So, you’re going to have to resort to sunscreen, and, to be safe, you’re going to need a skin care product that protects you from the suncreen’s dangerous chemical ingredients.

How do you do that? Your first line of defense is natural sunscreen – check your local health food store. However, even those products aren’t completely non-toxic so you’ll still some additional protection. Your best bet for that is a shielding lotion: A good shielding lotion bonds with the outer layer of the skin to form a new protective layer that keeps out chemicals. It also locks in natural moisture – another thing you have to be concered with when you’re out in the sun: sunburn equals dehydration.

It’s unfortunate that summer skin care is so complex. It would be great if we could just step outside and soak up the sun without having to worry. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. So, get the safest, most natural sunscreen you can find, and apply it on top of the shielding lotion. These natural (http://www.skinmdnatural.com/skin-care.php) skin care products</a> can help you enjoy your summer without concern for your health.

07.17.08
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Eye Balls

This morning I drove my partner’s father’s truck to work today and noticed that I went out of my way to have my sunglasses with me. I usually keep them in my car, but after a series of subconscious events I had kept them close so that I would have them this morning until I retrieved my own vehicle. I didn’t start wearing sunglasses regularly until I started college (it was easier to people watch if people don’t know I was watching them). I now find myself wear sunglasses all the time and feel very uncomfortable without them. This is probably all for the better because your eyes are very sensitive organs that are very important to daily activities, and working in the design field I would be useless without sight.

Before my people watching college days I always tried to wear proper eye protection when the situation called for it. I wear eye wear while skiing more than any other activity. The reflection off of the snow is so harsh that is can cause serious damage in a matter of hours. Every thousand feet (approximately 305 meters) increase in elevation, the intensity of UV rays increases by five percent. Being up at 10,000-14,000 feet I imagine that the UV rays are pretty intense. Snow blindness is basically a sunburn of the cornea and conjunctiva, and may not be noticed for several hours from exposure. Symptoms range from bloodshot and teary eyes to swelling shut. In very severe cases, snow blindness can cause permanent vision loss. Reflective eye damage doesn’t only happen from the snow, it happens with water, glass, grass and any surface that reflects so make sure that you have a good pair of sunglasses for when the situation calls for it, weather people watching or otherwise.

~Zac~

07.08.08
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The history of sunglasses

I honor of UV Safety Month I decided to present you all with some information on sunglasses. Sunglasses, at least versions of them, have been around for centuries! Their purposes and styles varied though the years before they evolved into what we know today. Here are some points of interest on the sunglass time line that might be of some interest.

Milestones:
1300cChinese judges wore smoke-colored quartz lenses to conceal their eye expressions in court.
1430cVision-correcting darkened eyeglasses were introduced into China from Italy
1700cJames Ayscough believed blue-green-tinted glass could correct specific vision impairments.
1929 Sam Foster found a ready market for sunglasses on the beaches of Atlantic City, New Jersey
1936 Sunglasses become polarized, Ray Ban began using Edwin H. Land Polaroid filter.
1960 A clever advertising campaign by Foster Grant makes sunglasses chic and popular.
2004 Oakley, eyeware company, developed Thump, sunglasses with built-in digital audio player.

List found here.

05.16.08
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The Sunscreen of Tomorrow, Today.

Being a sun-protection company you would think that we wouldn’t want anyone to know about other products out there, but you are wrong. Check out the new products out there, the important thing is that you protect yourself and the ones you love. Here are some interesting items that came across my radar recently:

Last night while I was watching “The Office” (best show on television) Season Finale I noticed a very interesting Coppertone ad in which they used their “Derma-Photo Booth” to show the unseen effects of the sun. What?! I can’t find any real information on this “Derma-Photography” that they use, but it sounds pretty cool. If it is effective and purposeful why don’t more dermatologists use it for early diagnosis? Weather gimmick or science technology the “Derma-Photo Booth” is touring the nation. Check out Coppertone.com for times and places. If nothing else you can get a freaky blue photo of yourself.

Neutrogena is offering the Helioplex line of sun protection this season with a high of SPF 70, which is pretty high.

Oil of Olay is sponsoring the “Skin Cancer Takes a Friend” movement this month where you can go onto their site, locate a participating dermatologist and get a free checkup for you and a friend. Check it out.

In more off the wall news:

“Using bacteria that have been harvested from the hydrothermal vents, a French cosmetics company has developed a “smart” ingredient for sun lotions that increases skin protection as the temperature rises.”

That’s right get your “thermal-vent-microbug-juice” before the species goes extinct. I don’t know when this product is going to be released, but I am sure it will be pricey and everyone in Hollywood will own a bottle. It looks like this story was first released in November 2001 and I haven’t heard of anything new in the bug lotion market so maybe it already failed. Who knows? Read the article.