Recently, I made a trip back home to Michigan and I was so startled by the clean air! I have been living in Los Angeles for over a decade, and I forgot what Michigan (clean air) was like. Yes, there really is no place like Los Angeles! The sun is always shining, the weather is consistently perfect, and I will be residing here forever with my sunscreen. However, the traffic, commotion of the city, and air quality in LA just does not compare, and this made me think about what my skin is constantly exposed to and its impact on my skin health.
With regular day-to-day pollution in the city, we are frequently exposed to harmful substances from the environment which is going underneath our radar. Have you ever looked at the skin quality of a smoker? The toxic, carcinogenic compounds emitted from cigarette smoke creates oxidative stress and free radial damage, and this leads to wrinkles, discoloration, sagging skin, aged skin…and the list goes on. This goes the same for the pollutants in the air. A daily walk on a busy street can cause oxidative stress and free radical damage in our skin too. Overtime, the cumulative effects of that constant exposure to pollutants is incredibly damaging.
The sun is the number one external factor that ages the skin, but we need to also consider air pollution as a close competitor. For us Angelinos, we are exposed to air pollution on top of the sun, and both factors together are more harmful to the skin than either one alone. It is important to apply sunscreen to prevent the harmful rays of the sun, but also consider sunscreens that contain high amounts of antioxidants that shield pollution too. I highly recommend the Colorescience brush on sunscreen because it is full of antioxidants, hyaluronic acid and physical blockers that block the harmful rays of the sun, pollution, blue light and infrared radiation. Don’t forget, re-application every 2 hours is key, and the Colorescience brush on sunscreen alleviates that difficulty of reapplying – another reason why I always recommend it!
