Stay Out of the Sun For Your Skin, Yes, But Be Aware of the Vitamin D Cost

It’s become like a mantra now. If you read any magazine or listen to any dermatologist, the first line of defense against aging, they will tell you, is to stay out of the sun and – even for small amounts of daily exposure – to use a high-powered, stable sunscreens on exposed areas.

Well, I listened, and with my giant hats, SPF 50s and regimen of retinols and assorted other potions I managed to slow down the visual manifestations of my own aging process (I say this not out of vanity but because sun spots that began to appear a few years ago have now virtually disappeared  and because the crow’s feet and forehead creases are not as deep).

So it is, in fact, true what they say. What they don’t tell you about sun exposure is that if you’re not getting any sun – or getting it but protecting yourself from it with sunscreen – you’re also probably not getting enough Vitamin D, and likely not making up for it with the amount of D you’re getting in your diet. In my case I don’t eat a lot of dairy and don’t eat any eggs or meat, so I was getting virtually none in my diet. One of my doctors brought this up one day after I had proclaimed with pride how healthy my diet was and how I stay out of the sun, thus protecting myself from skin cancer and premature aging. She did a simple blood test, which revealed that I had a Vitamin D level of 13. The normal range is 30-80. Apart from causing bone pain, a deficiency like this can lead to Osteopenia, the precursor to Osteoporosis. My level was so alarming that my doctor put me on a weekly regimen of 50,000 IU (international units) per week, and I now take a maintenance dose of 10,000 IU per week. I’m supposed to be re-tested soon.

So, my point is this, keep staying out of the sun for the sake of protecting yourself from premature aging and skin cancer, keep using your sunscreens and keep eating a healthy diet. But, please, especially my female readers, ask your doctors to include a vitamin D level test in your next round of blood work or checkup, and follow his or her directives based on the results. It was certainly eye-opening for me.

Give Yourself a Hand

With most women’s skincare energies (understandably) focused on their faces, they very often forget that the thing that can often give away their age – sometimes prematurely – is their hands. While we may be unrelenting about putting sunscreen on our faces and necks, how often do we all walk out the door with sunscreen on the backs of our hands? Probably seldom to never. Then we’re encouraged to repeatedly wash our hands to stave off cold and flu germs, we slather bacterial gels all over them and we wipe them down with sanitizing wipes. These harsh drying habits are further compounded by winter weather, during which many of us cast aside our gloves because we can’t use our touch screens with them on. At best, then, we’re exposing our hands more and moisturizing them less. They take quite a beating, especially this time of year.

If you only have dryness, you can consider yourself fortunate, and begin to take preventive measures now, such as using a handcream with an SPF of at least 15 every day, and yes (I know it’s a hassle) re-applying after you wash your hands. If you’re not so lucky and you’ve started to see even the faintest brown spots (they come out more when you get a little sun), there are a number of products at different price points that can help reduce their appearance, as well as some at-home remedies such as lemon, or prescriptions such as hydroquinone.

I’ve seen a couple of brown spots crop up on my hands – no doubt from my carefree youth dousing myself in baby oil beginning the first day of spring like all my friends – and have had to remind myself again and again to protect my hands before I leave the apartment. One thing that’s made it easier is I just put a little of my face cream (Kinerase Daily Defense Cream - specifically designed to protect and heal sun-damaged skin) right on my hands during my morning routine. Any kind of sunscreen you can use on your face is suitable for your hands.

But many companies now make great products specifically for this particular challenge. One of my favorites is Clarins’ Age Control Hand Lotion. Non-greasy, with natural ingredients and a fragrance to die for, it makes you want to reapply just to smell it again and again (although the price makes you think twice about doing that). On the more affordable end, Dove’s ProAge Hand Cream sports an alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) content to support cell turnover in the skin. Even better on price, and SPF, Neutrogena’s Age Shield Hand Cream at $5.99 with an SPF of 30 is such a great buy and so small and cheap you can afford to keep one at home and drop one in your bag!

Let the Sun Shine In...Just Not On Your Face

I do not pretend to be the sole keeper of the secret of the Fountain of Youth...countless dermatologists and beauty editors before me have said the same thing, but it certainly bears repeating: to avoid the single most insidious cause of premature aging, wear a good sunblock every single day, even if it's cloudy, and in the summer add to that a big floppy hat and sunglasses.

I'm going to leave it to you to find your own chic floppy hat and glasses (the glasses can be inexpensive, just make sure they have 100% UVA/UVB protection) but what I am going to tell you to do is to check out my two new favorite sunscreens on the market. They are my favorites because, unlike their predecessors that were almost always white, goopy and seemed to transform my makeup to into some other new, non-spreadable chemical compound, these two really are as they promise to be: ultra sheer, dry and absorbent. They are so good at disappearing into the skin's surface, in fact, that I would go so far as to say that they almost serve as a skin mattifier or serum, but with the endless benefits of sun protection. They both even smell faintly nice although they are technically unscented.

First up, on the more expensive end, is Kiehl's Super Fluid UV Defense SPF 50+, available at Kiehl's stores as well as Bloomingdale's, Barney's and other high-end department stores for $32. Kiehl's doesn't specify how the product is photostabilized, but I trust them that it is in fact stabilized. It's also water-resistant and oil free, and if you have a Kiehl's near you and buy a bottle, they'll sweeten the deal with a sample of Midnight Recovery Concentrate (another favorite of mine - more on that another time) and Ultra Facial Moisturizer, which can help make that price tag seem a little less pricey.

On the less expensive end is Neutrogena's new Ultra Sheer Liquid Daily Sunblock SPF 70 or SPF 55 (please, always choose the highest SPF possible). Available at drugstores everywhere at an easy-on-your-wallet $11.99, Neutrogena claims that their water-light texture spreads easily over skin, absorbing instantly for an invisible, weightless feel, and I have to agree. I have been a longtime user of their previous generation of dry-touch sunscreens and thought they were anything but dry-touch and had to wait around while the white goo turned clear enough to rub in. This one truly is ultra sheer and has a lovely texture. Its photostabilizer is the much-publicized Helioplex®, which, even though we may not understand exactly what it is, at least gives us the fancy scientific name to look for that we've heard of before.

So get out there and let the sun shine in, just not on your pretty face.