by
Essentique
When you were a kid did your parents ever slather you in sunscreen or scold you to take better care of your skin? Well, many of their concerns were actually valid considering the harm we do to our skin when we’re young tends to manifest as we grow older, even if there were no major initial signs of damage.
Most people already know the biggest culprit of all skin damage… the dreaded sun. Up to 90% of visible signs of age can be related to some form of sun exposure and damage. This means that although the sun burn you got on summer vacation in middle school healed, the skin was still irreparably harmed and will show greater signs of that damage with age. However, it is often taught to professionals that the majority of sun damage is accumulated up to age 18. This is partially a falsity considering The American Society for Photobiology recently found that Americans acquire about 23 percent of such damage by age 18 and 10 percent more in every consecutive decade (it also does depend on individual lifestyles). This shows no matter what age you are, you can still accumulate sun damage and should be cautious in all stages of life.
Other common causes of premature skin damage can be attributed mostly to ourselves. Things like frequent harsh physical exfoliation, tugging on the eye area and skin, sleeping in makeup, not moisturizing to reduce water loss, and using harsh chemicals are all examples of harm we do to our skin, often unknowingly. So whether you’re just starting your skincare journey or have already accumulated a fair amount of damage, it is never too late to start taking care of your skin to prevent any further harm. Just remember to always be gentle, feed your skin, and most crucially BEWARE OF THE SUN!
