Eye Opener

A recent trip to the dermatologist opened my eyes to skin care for health. Up till then, when I thought of skin care it was in the results frame of mind.

Would this cream make wrinkles less noticeable?

Would this cleanser take away all traces of makeup?

Would this foundation make dark circles disappear?

Dr. Hull removed an area of skin that was continually flaking off, dry skin has become the norm for me since celebrating birthdays in my 50's. This cream, that cream, but it refused to budge. The good news was it was just a dermatitis, the bad news was it could have been worse. Skin cancer is common in our family, mostly on my husband's side but I paid attention when she told me that sunscreen needs to be a part of our lives from now on. We love the outdoors and often are on the lake in the summer months so she gave me a list of products that she recommends to patients along with literature for me to read about taking care of my skin. After spending nearly $300 for that visit, I was ready to hear some good advice.

This month's Redbook repeats what Dr. Hull had to say that day, and I'm sharing it here for anyone who might miss it. One of the products that Dr. Hull recommended is highly rated in their article too. It's the line of CeraVe creams, lotions and cleansers.

CeraVe is different than any other product I had used, it contains Ceramides to penetrate deep into the skin and repair the damage done by frequent hand washing, scrubbing and washing dishes for 41 years! Lipids to the rescue in the form of Ceramides, cholesterol and fatty acids, it builds from deep within to make my skin recover it's health. Who knew?

Redbook's article has some important information for anyone, regardless of whether you have 59 candles on your cake like me or only 21 candles! For the whole article go HERE

"The most common place for women to get potentially deadly melanoma? Not the arms or shoulders — it's the lower legs, in part because we wear skirts and shorts without sunscreen. To size up your skin damage, strip down and look in the mirror. If your chest or legs look more wrinkled or freckled than your breasts or butt (assuming you don't sunbathe nude), then "you're not doing a good job of protecting yourself," says Bradenton, FL, dermatologist Susan Weinkle, M.D. Shield yourself every day with light lotions that provide protection against both UVA and UVB rays. But choose wisely, says Steven Wang, M.D., director of dermatology at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Basking Ridge, NJ. Wang and his colleagues examined 29 daily moisturizers with SPF and found that very few of them blocked damaging UVA rays. Look for lotions that contain zinc oxide or a combination of avobenzone and octocrylene and have an SPF of at least 30, he says. For body, we like Lubriderm Advanced Therapy SPF 30 Lotion Moisturizer with Sunscreen ($7.99, drugstores) or Ahava Mineral Sun Protection Suncare Anti-Aging Moisturizer SPF 50 ($28). For face, try Cerave Facial Moisturizing Lotion SPF 30 ($14, drugstores) or Eucerin Everyday Protection Face Lotion SPF 30 ($8.99, drugstores)."

Thinking you look younger and skinnier when you're tan?

"If you love the way you look with a tan, it's tough for anyone (especially a pasty dermatologist!) to change your mind. But there are safer ways to get that glow. "Anytime your skin changes color from UV exposure, it's a sign of skin and DNA damage, which can ultimately lead to cancer," says Vernon Sondak, M.D., a surgical oncologist at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, FL. Getting a "base tan" at a salon is no better than baking on the beach — in fact, research suggests it may be worse: The UVA light that tanning beds emit penetrates the skin more deeply than UVB light, the kind that causes natural sunburn. Women who use tanning salons even occasionally (and about one in five of you do) are 74 percent more likely to develop melanoma than those who have never tanned indoors."