Get Winter Skin Care Tips

Jan. 26, 2009 — -- Before you make any winter getaway plans to a warm and sunny place, you should ensure that you have the right skin-care products. Vacation sun exposure, or intermittent sun exposure, can be dangerous.

Dermatologist Jeanine Downie gives advice on how to protect yourself and explains the risks.

Even just a few days of sun in the winter can be dangerous without the proper protection.

In fact, indoor workers tend to have a higher rate of skin cancer then outdoor workers, which seems counterintuitive.

But remember there's something about the fact that you've been covering up your skin, and then suddenly exposing it to intense levels of sun — and not your usual St. Louis sun or Michigan sun, but maybe Florida sun or Mexico sun.

If you're on the beach, sand and water reflect up to 80 percent of the sun's radiation, adding to the intensity of exposure. If you're in the snow, for every 1,000 feet of altitude, you're exposed to an extra 8-10 percent of ultraviolet radiation.

A base tan gives you an SPF of three, so it doesn't help you more than a coat of sunscreen. A three is like a T-shirt. It's cheaper and more cost-effective to skip the tanning bed and put on sunscreen the first day you're on vacation.

As a dermatologist, I'm very against tanning beds. We get all of the vitamin D we need from food and supplements, and the risk of melanoma is too high.

The melanoma rate has been increasing steadily each year, right now it's about one in 56. In 1935 it was about one in 1,500. This is because of increased leisure time and because of tanning beds.

People need to wear sunscreen every day, rain or shine, January through December. At least SPF 15, but I prefer 30 or above.

Keep in mind, water-resistant and waterproof don't work for more than an hour. The key reason for vacation burns and sun damage is that people don't reapply their sunscreen.

A good preventative routine can cost a lot of money, but doesn't have to.Vivité Vibrance, DCL (~$100)

High Potency "C" Scape Serum 25 (~$50)

TNS Essential Serum (~$250+)

Revaleskin Intense Recovery treatment (~$125)

The products in this group is in the $8-$16 range. The sun protection is there, and the ocean potion has antioxidants like this more expensive brands do, and the Aveeno has soy in it.

Affordable Skin Care
Aveeno positively radiant (~$16)
Cetaphil UV Defense SPF 50 (~$14)
Ocean Potion Sunscreen w/Antioxidants (~$8)

Clarisonic Facial Brush is a highly effective face cleansing brush that gets rid of more makeup and dirt than just washing your face. It's supposed to reduce the appearance of pores, improve skin tone and the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, while improving absorption of serums and moisturizers. The price is a little less than $200.

The Neutrogena Healthy Skin Rejuvenator Kit is even less expensive, around the $40 mark. It's not a sonic brush. Instead it uses cleaning puffs with ultra-fine crystals and mild purifiers but the objective is the same — deep clean, facial massage, younger-looking skin.

Neutrogena High-level SPF and Aveeno H 30 SPF are in the $10 range, and they're great protection without clogging up your pores. So if you don't have hundreds to spend on botox, or thousands to spend on lasers, you can drop a few bucks on these and still be taking good care of your skin.

Find out more at www.skincancer.org.