Quest for Flawless Skin

Women aspire for perfect and forever radiant skin! Each one of us have a specific skin colour / tone, which over the years changes for good or bad depending on the upkeep of the skin. Luminosity, even tone and translucency are three dimensions that define perfect skin radiance

A balanced melanin helps achieve optimal skin perfection or radiance. What’s Melanin? It is a skin protectant that is found in skin cells. The imbalance of melanin production caused due to ultra violet rays, stress and hormones could lead to pigmentation of the skin.

Ultra violet rays can be of three types depending of its wave length. UV-A is the longest wavelength that penetrates deep into the skin leading to immediate darkening, DNA damage and ageing of the skin. While UV-B has medium wavelength and can cause acute skin inflammation (sunburn), which results in persistent skin darkening, and roughness/peeling in severe cases. The third type is UV-C, which is a short wavelength UV ray that is mostly absorbed by the ozone layer of the atmosphere. The intensity of the UV rays is highest from 10 am until about 3pm.

SPF: Sun protection factor also commonly known as sun block or sun screen that absorbs or reflects some of the UV-B radiation on the skin exposed to sunlight and thus helps protect against sunburn. If it takes about 20 minutes to get visible sunburn on unprotected skin, an SPF10 product will extend that time by tenfold, to have protection of about three and a half hours against UV-B.

PA is a term used for protection against UV-A. The number of + signs indicates the extended time when compared with unprotected skin.

• PA+ Minimal protection (an exposure time of 2 - 3.9 times longer than for unprotected skin)
• PA++ Adequate protection (an exposure time of 4 – 7.9 times longer than for unprotected skin)
• PA+++ Maximum protection (an exposure time of > 8 times longer than for unprotected skin)

Stress could be another major contributor to skin problems.

Balanced levels of female hormones - Estrogen and progesterone gives the skin a soft and supple texture, a smooth and silky feel, and a transparent and luminous complexion. The disruptions of the balance, particularly the level of estrogen, can cause serious concerns of hyperpigmentation.

Imbalance of melanin leads to pigmentation, which is broadly classified as age spots & freckles.

Age spots are flat, brown, gray, or black spots on the skin. They usually occur on areas that have been exposed to the sun. Age spots are caused by an excess production of melanin. They may be caused by skin aging and by sun exposure.

How to prevent Age Spots ?

• Avoid the sun between 10 am and 3 pm.
• Wear a sunscreen every day. It should have a sun protection factor (SPF) rating of at least 15 and contain both UVA and UVB protection.
• Apply sunscreen at least 30 minutes before sun exposure. Reapply every two hours, more often if swimming or perspiring.

Freckles (another kind of pigmentation) are clusters of concentrated melanin, which are most often visible on people with a fair complexion. Genetics too plays an important role.

How to get rid of freckles

• First, some topical creams, both over-the-counter and prescription can lighten skin color and make it look more even.
• Another, more extreme method of getting rid of freckles is cryosurgery, in which a doctor uses liquid nitrogen to freeze them off.
• Laser treatments, photofacials, chemical peels and intense pulsed light (IPL) therapy, the latter of which uses light energy to target skin cells that have color in them.