Winter skin care

When the sun sets before five o’clock, protecting your skin is probably the last thing on your mind. But certain elements of winter can make you even more prone to sun damage.

We tell you why you should be wearing sunscreen every day, and what you can do to reverse existing damage.

It may not be beating down on you. But when the sun reflects off glistening ice and snow, your skin is being hit by harmful UV rays from every angle.

Dr. Vignjevic: “It’s sort of like sitting at the beach under an umbrella you can still get a burn because of the reflection from the water and the sand.”

Dermatologist, Dr. Vignjevic, cautions ski bums to be especially careful: “The sun rays don’t have to travel quite as far to get to you so the higher you go up in elevation, the greater the risk of burning as well.”

Here’s how a sunburn works: UV rays damage your skin’s DNA, causing redness and peeling. Continued damage over time can trigger permanent changes, and skin cancer.

Dr. Vignjevic: “When you get a cell that has permanently changed DNA it can start to grow abnormally and that’s what we call a cancer.”

Even if your skin looks unblemished from the outside, there could be a lot of warning signs lurking underneath.

Damage starts as hidden dark spots only visible under a strong black light. Those can grow into actinic keratosis or precancerous lesions.

Blue light therapy combined with special medication can treat the spots before they become cancer. But the best way to protect yourself from skin cancer and wrinkles is prevention.

Sunscreen, or moisturizer with an Sun Protection Factor (SPF) of at least 30 should be worn every day.

Laura Kay, medical aesthetician: “Making sure that on the bottle it does say broad spectrum protection with UVA and UVB protection.”

The sun’s rays damage your skin, even on a cloudy day. And over time, it adds up.