Beauty is Skin Deep

Now, I still have those freckles and other additional brownish blotches, some strange raised pores, fine lines, some loss of pigmentation, and mild scarring to boot! My body has been through a lot getting to adulthood. Having five children, several moves, and a husband that is a ball of fire has contributed to aging. (Evan is a very sweet husband and devoted Father to the girls. I love him to pieces!)

These changes really started bothering me. I guess those “brownish blotches” are what Skincare marketer’s cleverly label, “Age Spots.” What a horrible term, age spots! To further investigate, I went to look this up on Wikipedia, my favorite source for up to date information on everything imaginable:

Liver spots are blemishes on the skin associated with ageing and exposure to ultra-violet radiation from the sun. They are also known as age spots, sun spots, lentigos, or senile/solar lentigines. They range in color from light brown to black and are located in areas most often exposed to the sun, particularly the hands, face, shoulders, arms and forehead. In spite of their name, liver spots are not related to the liver.

From the age of 40 onwards, the skin is less able to regenerate from sun exposure and liver spots are very common in this older age group, particularly in those who enjoy being out in the sunshine. They have been known to proliferate in some individuals under emotional distress. In the vast majority of cases, liver spots pose no threat and no treatment is necessary. In a very small number of cases, they have been known to obscure the detection of skin cancer. Some people consider these spots unsightly and wish to have them removed for cosmetic reasons.

Liver Spots! What the heck is going on here?! Yes, I abused the sun, and yes, I have a stressful life. But hold on here, I am only 38!

I had no alternative but to fight back. There had to be something I could do. I simply could not accept that I was powerless over the premature aging of my skin!
There are several directions I can go with this topic, and you and I don’t have enough time to address them all in one post. So I thought I would start off with the subject of prevention. You’ve probably heard this quote a zillion times, but as Ben Franklin once said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
It is never too early nor too late to benefit from using sunscreen. I am always alarmed when I see people tanning at the pool or going to the sun bed salons. Aren’t they freaking out about their skin as well? Aren’t they a little paranoid about skin cancer? Well, in my humble opinion, they really should be.

Here is my take on sunscreens. There are a lot of choices out there; and here are a few to consider: