Health and Beauty News: Your mobile phone is exposing you to your skin’s silent enemy, BLUE LIGHT.

Your mobile phone is exposing you to your skin’s silent enemy, BLUE LIGHT

WE’RE a generation reliant on our phones, be it for socialising, shopping, dating or especially now most of us are working from home. But what if you discovered that every time you take a selfie or scroll through social media you‘re being exposed to the most silent skin enemy of all? Blue light.

Our lifestyle habits have changed; we spend less time outdoors in the sun and more time inside staring at a screen than generations before us did. Evidence suggests exposure to blue light on a daily basis causes long-term ageing, therefore, adapting our skincare is essential.

We know that protecting our skin from UVA and UVB rays is an absolute must, but little thought has been given to blue light, or HEVL (high-energy visible light), until now. Some experts say the impact of blue light could be similar to the ageing effects of sun damage.

Visible blue light is a short, high-energy wavelength that can penetrate deeper than UVA or UVB rays. This leads to premature ageing by accelerating the oxidation process, causing hyperpigmentation, inflammation and damage to the skin barrier.

HEVL stimulates enzymes in the skin that trigger excess melanin production, leading to patchy discolouration, dullness and uneven skin tone. Interestingly, studies prove that this particular form of light pollution has a more damaging effect in terms of pigment on darker skin tones.

One suggestion is going hands-free to limit the exposure to light when your phone is held directly to your skin, or how about switching your screen to night mode to lessen the amount of HEVL emitted.

However, It’s not just pigmentation we should be wary of. Think about how hot your face feels after chatting on the phone, that’s inflammation. The skin’s circulation has increased quickly, enlarging the blood vessels and causing short-term redness, a topical antioxidant is essential to combat pigmentation and inflammation.

Vitamin C is the gold standard when it comes to brightening pigmentation, vitamin A helps to stimulate collagen and stabilise free radicals, while cutting-edge brands are now incorporating carotenoid antioxidant lutein into formulations developed for chronic screen-scrollers.