Engineered to work from both the inside-out and the outside-in to maintain healthy, youthful-looking skin, Suntegrity’s(TM) sunscreen lotion and supplement formulas are rich in antioxidants that support the body’s defense against free radical damage and aging from harsh UV rays. Key antioxidants contained in the topical zinc oxide sunscreens include astaxanthin, red algae, hyaluronic acid, pomegranate oil, cucumber extract, and tea oil. Suntegrity’s(TM) Sun Defense Dietary Supplement touts a propriety blend of ingredients containing well known antioxidants such as polypodium leucotomos extract, astaxanthin, lutein, and beta-carotene, which research suggests may reduce the severity of UV sun damage to the skin, thus helping to reduce photo-aging and skin cancer.

“Most people think they only need to wear sunscreen in summer, but the truth is protecting yourself from skin cancer and maintaining healthy, youthful looking skin requires sun protection 365 days a year. With skin cancer on the rise, sun protection isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity,” said Founder Tricia Trimble.

“After having lost my mother to melanoma skin cancer a number of years ago, my personal mission has been to educate men and women about the importance of proper sun protection and decrease the instances of skin cancer.” About Suntegrity Skincare After losing her Mother to melanoma skin cancer, which claims nearly 8,650 people each year, Founder Tricia Trimble recognized the importance of proper sun protection. More important, she learned that most sunscreens on the market use chemical UV blockers and contain several toxic ingredients. After several years of research and investigation, she developed her own natural, healthy, and holistic sun care line that works from both the inside-out and the outside-in.

With a heartfelt mission and the help of an extremely knowledgeable formulator and chemist, Suntegrity(TM) Skincare was born. For more information, visit www.SuntegritySkincare.com.

Potentially arguing the case for people’s need for more vitamin D, a recent study has shown melanoma patients whose bodies contain higher levels of the vitamin typically have less severe forms of the cancer.

Higher levels of vitamin D are linked to less severe, less deadly melanoma lesions in people with skin cancer, new research suggests. The findings provide more support for the idea that vitamin D is crucial to skin health. Many Americans, however, don’t get enough of it, perhaps because they limit sun exposure and drink less milk than in the past.

“Although avoiding sunburn is very important in order to prevent melanoma, it is also important to avoid becoming deficient in vitamin D,” said Dr. Julia A. Newton-Bishop, a dermatology professor at the University of Leeds in England and a study co-author. “This is especially important for melanoma patients in whom low vitamin D levels appear to be harmful.”

Newton-Bishop and her research colleagues looked at the medical records of 872 people with melanoma and tried to link their vitamin D levels to the severity of their lesions and their likelihood of surviving without a relapse. Those with higher levels of vitamin D in their bodies had less severe lesions—the lesions were thinner—and a lower rate of relapse, the researchers found.

The results are reported in the Sept. 14 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology. “The research suggests that low levels of vitamin D allow the melanoma tumors to grow better and, therefore, to be more of a threat to the patient,” Newton-Bishop said.

It’s not clear how food, sun exposure and supplements contributed to the higher levels of vitamin D in some people, although they did take more multivitamins and cod liver oil, she said.

Melanoma is the cause of most skin cancer deaths, even though it accounts for less than 5% of skin cancer cases. The best way to prevent melanoma is by avoiding excessive sun exposure. To boosts levels of vitamin D, people with melanoma should take daily supplements, the authors concluded, and consume foods that contain vitamin D, such as fatty fish and some fortified cereals.

The study is provocative and “somewhat contrary to traditional thinking,” said Dr. Adit Ginde, an assistant professor of surgery at the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine. More work needs to be done to prove that vitamin D levels directly affect skin cancer development and to determine if increasing the levels will help people with melanoma, he said.

Vitamin D appears to be more than a cancer fighter. Low levels of vitamin D have been linked to a variety of health problems, including heart disease, infections and poor overall health. And adults with low levels may suffer from lower bone mineral density.

But researchers have noticed that vitamin D deficiency has been on the rise in recent decades. An earlier study led by Ginde found that more than 75% of Americans don’t have high enough vitamin D levels, with African-Americans and Latinos at especially high risk.

Vitamin D is naturally present in few foods, and some researchers recommend supplements containing as many as 2,000 International Units (IU) of vitamin D for many people, and even more for those who are obese. The current recommendations, however, are 200 to 600 units a day, depending on age.

More information

The U.S. National Library of Medicine has more on vitamin D.

HealthDay News, September 26, 2009

We took the following chart directly from the University of Washington’s page to show you exactly how this is divided up!

• Head, neck and face = 9%
• Left arm = 9%
• Right arm = 9%
• Upper back = 9%
• Lower back = 9%
• Upper front torso = 9%
• Lower front torso = 9%
• Right upper leg and thigh = 9%
• Left upper leg and thigh = 9%
• Right lower leg and foot = 9%
• Left lower leg and foot = 9%

If you are looking for a great sunscreen, you can find the Top Rated Safest Sunscreens by the EWG on our site BeautyIntuition.com

Does your sunscreen work?

Find out by checking the EWG Sunscreen Report. Surprisingly, 3 of 5 brand-name sunscreens either don’t protect skin from sun damage or contain hazardous chemicals — or both. An Environmental Working Group investigation of 1,740 sunscreens rates the season’s best — and worst.

Some companies have responded to EWG’s 3-year campaign for safer, more effective sunscreens. 70% of sunscreen products now contain strong UVA filters, compared to 29% last year. The bad news: much UVA protection is still too thin to save your skin. Don’t waste your money or risk your skin on sunscreens that don’t deliver. Use our 2009 Sunscreen Guide to find better products.

More than a million cases of skin cancer are diagnosed in the U.S. every year. The incidence of malignant melanoma, the most dangerous form of the disease, is escalating. Effective sunscreens are crucial to public health. But EWG’s investigation reveals that they may be hard to find:

• 61 sunscreens with SPFs from 44-100+ might tempt you to stay out longer in the sun, but they block just 1-2% more sunburn rays than an SPF 30 sunscreen.
• Hundreds of all-day moisturizers advertise SPF protection, but 1 in 5 offers little protection from harmful UVA rays. Some break down well before the day’s end. A surprising new government report attributes an increasing incidence of malignant melanoma among people who work indoors to UVA rays shining through windows onto unprotected skin.
• Lip cancer is most common on the bottom lip where sun exposure is most direct. Two of 5 lip balms offer poor UVA protection.

One plus for 2009: 19% fewer sunscreens contain oxybenzone, a hormone disruptor approved by FDA as an active ingredient in sunscreen.

Few sunscreens live up to their advertising claims, and the federal government is powerless to make them. The federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been promising to regulate sunscreens since 1978, when gasoline was 63 cents a gallon and the BeeGees’ “Saturday Night Fever” topped the charts.

In the meantime, EWG’s research team has created this comprehensive guide — listing 125 recommended products and other sun safety tips — to help you and your family have fun in the sun — safely.

Below is the #1 Rated Body Sunscreen by the EWG…Soleo and the #1 Rated Face Moisturizer with SPF30 by Keys.

There are a lot of misconceptions about SPF factors and sunscreen ingredients. So, we’ll try to help dispell the myths for you.

In theory, the SPF is a multiplier that can be applied to the time taken to burn. For example, someone who would burn after 10 minutes in the sun would expect to burn after 100 minutes if protected by a sunscreen with SPF 10, 150 minutes if protected by a sunscreen with SPF 15, 200 minutes if protected by a sunscreen with SPF 20, etc. There are several misconceptions with these numbers and they often mislead consumers into thinking they are getting more protection then they are.

Protection from a particular sunscreen actually depends on several factors such as:

1) Skin type of the user.
2) Amount applied and frequency of re-application.
3) Activities in which one engages (for example, swimming leads to a loss of sunscreen from the skin).
4) Time of day and season.
5) Percentage of UV reflected or scattered by the environment, for example snow, sand or water.
6) Amount of sunscreen the skin has absorbed.
7) Altitude.
Proximity to the Equator

A sunscreen with an SPF of x blocks a proportion (x-1)/x of UVB:

Sun Protection Factor and Proportion of UVB blocked
SPF 10 = 90.0%
SPF 15 = 93.3%
SPF 20 = 95.0%
SPF 30 = 96.7%
SPF 60 = 97.0%

As you can see, the extra UVB rays blocked by sunscreens with an SPF over 30 is very minimal and you can NEVER achieve 100% sun protection unless you stay out of the sun – thus, the term sunblock was banned from use by the FDA.

In order to achieve higher SPF levels, manufactures need to use more chemicals. Once the SPF is over a 30, I don’t think the extra protection is worth the extra chemicals.

There are two types of ingredients used in sunscreens -

1) chemical blockers – absorb UV radiation, lowering energy levels, release energy as heat, may irritate the skin at higher concentrations (benzophenone, avobenzone, octyl methoxycinnamate)

2) physical blockers – reflect or scatter energy rays, physical block the UV radiation, non-irritating to the skin (titanium dioxide, zinc oxide)

Please note that the SPF system only measures the degree of protection from UVB exposure (UVB rays are the primary cause of sunburns, affect the outer layer of skin, and are associated with skin cancer). There isn’t currently a rating system that measures the degree of protection from UVA exposure (UVA rays contribute to age-related changes in the skin and are also associated with skin cancer). I recommend reading the list of ingredients in a sunscreen to see if it has “broad-spectrum” (UVA and UVB) coverage. A good broad-spectrum sunscreen should contain avobenzone, titanium dioxide, or zinc oxide for significant UVA protection.

Hopefully, we’ve been able to shed some light on sunscreens for you.

So, get out there and enjoy the beautiful weather, just remember the Sunscreen!

And…if you’d like the tan without the sun..

…or you can try a self-tanner that uses dihydroxyacetone – a sugar ingredient that reacts with amino acids in the top layer of the skin (epidermis). The color lasts until natural exfoliation occurs. For the longest results, be sure to exfoliate before using. We recommend – Xen-Tan products.