High tech products
for your skin — as well
as lips, hair and eyes
prevent problems
caused by too much sun.
BY RUTHAN BRODSKY
untans are worn like
badges of affluence
and pleasure. That
"healthy" look signals
to us and the rest of the
world that youth and
vigor remain.
The notion that a
tan is attractive dates to the 1920s
when paleness, once a sign of the
leisure class (as opposed to being
sunburned from working in the
fields), became the stigma of having
to work in the office or factory. A
tan, on the other hand, signified
tennis at the club or a month in the
Caribbean.
Dermatologists have known for
12
IN STYLE
years that the sun ages the skin and
is primarily responsible for skin
cancer. However, two recent studies
show that although most Americans
understand the hazards of sun expo-
sure and know what precautions to
take, the gap between what they
know and the health risks they take
is as wide as ever.
The 1988 PreSun Report by
Westwood Pharmaceuticals shows
that although 87 percent of adult
Americans know that the sun can
cause skin cancer, and 83 percent
know that it can cause premature
wrinkling, more than half the people
questioned did not use a sunscreen.
In another survey conducted by the
American Academy of Dermatology,
four in ten Americans said they're
not concerned about sun exposure.
Danger of Tanning
Tanning is nothing more than
the normal protective reaction by
skin under ultraviolet assault.
Exposed to sunlight, special cells
called melanocytes release granules
of the protective pigment, melanin,
which absorb and scatter later doses
of ultraviolet.
A tan signals sun damage to the
skin, plain and simple. The major
risk is skin cancer. Because it rarely
spreads to other parts of the body,
non-melanoma skin cancer, caused