To celebrate National Healthy Skin Month, the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) has put together some top tips in choosing anti-aging skin care products. Over the years, we’ve also touched on many of the same points that focus on protection, prevention and treatment.
We’ve always maintained that an effective broad-spectrum sunscreen is the No.1 thing you can do for your skin, and it looks like the experts at the AAD agree. No surprise since this same organization created the Melanoma Monday campaign and the SPOT Skin Cancer initiative to educate the public about sun safety and encourage positive changes in the prevention of skin cancer.
Here are what we feel are their best and easiest tips to yield enviable results:
- Start with sunscreen and moisturizer. Choose a broad spectrum sunscreen of at least SPF 30 that will protect against both UVA (aging) and UVB (burning) rays. If you’re spending time outdoors, remember to reapply every two hours. Although a basic moisturizer may not be anti-aging per se, it will certainly help to minimize fine lines, reinforce the skin barrier to keep out bacteria and environmental irritants and minimize transepidermal water loss, all of which contribute to healthy skin.
- Treat your #1 aging-skin concern. This differs for each individual. For some, it’s dark spots. For others, it’s wrinkles or sagging skin. Focus on one concern and choose a product with adequate concentrations of active ingredients that deliver results.
- Buy a product formulated for your skin type. Most of us can confidently say that we have either normal, dry, oily or combination skin. With any one of these, we can also have sensitive skin, so more important than determining skin type may be identifying your skin’s specific needs. Keep in mind that skin also changes through the seasons and over time so don’t be afraid to switch up your products if they aren’t yielding results.
- Have realistic expectations. Alas, with all our advances in science and technology, there’s still no such thing as a miracle cream. Don’t expect to turn back the clock 10 years overnight. Even healthy skin takes approximately 28 days to renew itself.
For more insider tips and advice on how to get healthy skin, visit the AAD website here.
