SKIN PROTECTION
When we think of skin protection, sunscreen is probably the first thing that comes to mind. However new research has discovered that these days it isn’t as simple as applying a simple sunscreen to keep your skin protected from environmental UV damage. Protecting your skin now includes shielding it not only from the sun, but shielding it from harmful pollution and from the radiation that comes off all the different screens we access and expose ourselves to.
Some of us might remember our younger days filled with summers lathering our bodies in baby oil in pursuit of a golden glow. Of course at the time we didn’t know that this was extremely damaging for our skin. Causing free radical damage and oxidative stress to prematurely age our skin by decreasing collagen production and increasing pigmentation. In fact it’s much worse than that with skin cancer now the most common cancer in New Zealand. With New Zealand and Australia having the highest rates of melanoma in the world.
The sun is much more than the light we can actually see. Sunlight can be broken down into four basic categories: VL (visible light), HEV (high-energy visible light), UV (ultraviolet), and IR (infrared light). Visible light is the light that is picked up by the human eye so, in this case, simple sunshine. When we see this, we know we need to protect our skin, by either applying sunscreen or simply covering our skin. HEV refers to blue light, both from the sun and from electronic devices. UV takes into consideration both UVA (rays that go deep into skin to cause premature aging and wrinkles) and UVB (the rays that cause a burn), which most basic sunscreen can block. While you may have read the term Infrared used in a positive way, as it can decrease inflammation and detoxify the skin and body, it can also be harmful when encountered in large frequencies. If you think about it, trapped infrared radiation, aka the heat that we feel, is what is leading to global warming, which wreaks havoc on the environment, just imagine what it is doing to our skin!
So, while we know that finding a natural, mineral-based sunscreen is essential to skin protection, it’s not enough to truly protect our skin. Let’s go back to pollution. Environmental pollution is constantly in the air we breathe. Full of free radicals that break down our DNA until it can no longer replicate, causing free radical-damage. Free radicals are actually made in our body, but so are antioxidants, the remedy, that prevent the free radicals from damaging your healthy cells.
While your body can normally handle the naturally occurring free radicals it produces, the mass amount coming from pollution and radiation as of late are too overpowering. These unstable molecules are searching for electrons in your body to make them whole again, a process that causes oxidative stress, which is what allows the DNA to start breaking down. You can eat antioxidant-rich food to fix the radicals inside your body, but the skin needs a topical solution. Skincare products rich in phytonutrients, vitamins and antioxidants provide a protective layer against free radicals made by the environment, and are most effective when used on the skin morning and night. Just an FYI, most sunscreens do not contain antioxidants. Protecting your skin from the sun’s damaging rays with SPF and limiting your time in the sun is important. But sunscreen alone itself isn’t enough regardless of the SPF rating?
What was once ‘protect yourself’ evolved to ‘limit your time in the sun between the hours of 10am and 4pm’, which has now evolved even further to “wear sunscreen every single day, summer and winter. So, what can we do to protect our skin damage.
As a skincare company based on the latest science and research. We promote the daily and topical use of an active botanical serum for skin to attain a extra layer of protection. Our 100% Active Botanical Serums are packed with protective and potent antioxidants to neutralise the daily assault from skin damaging free radicals and environmental pollution. Naturally boosting the skins natural defence system and reducing oxidative stress.
NUN believes in not only protecting your skin from external damage but nourishing it as well. All our products contain a rich nutrient profile of omega’s to restore and rebalance the skins natural lipid levels. Thereby strengthening and fortifying the skin barrier for added protection and providing skin with all the vital and essential nutrients it needs to thrive.
Continuous and regular use of our serums will leave skin replenished, nourished and deeply hydrated. Improving skin health, optimal skin function. Resulting in a healthy vibrant complexion ready to defend itself from the daily assault of free radicals and environmental pollution.