Just when it seems the message about sunscreen’s importance as part of a person’s daily routine has been widely accepted, along comes more scary information that has consumers wondering whether their sunscreens are as bad for skin as the sun itself. The latest article questioning sunscreens appears in the February issue of Allure. To Allure’s credit, the article was balanced. Its summation was that you shouldn’t skip sunscreen: it does far more good than harm, and the harm doesn’t equate to the fear lots of people feel when they don’t know the whole story. Funny, that’s a lot like many things in life isn’t it? Our fears and reactions come from a one-sided piece of information.

The article in Allure centered on a study published in the October 2006 issue of Free Radical Biology & Medicine. The study found that while sunscreens can protect skin from the free-radical damage sunlight causes, in a short amount of time it causes free-radical damage on its own. Of course, the big question is: are we trading free-radical protection for free-radical damage, thus canceling out the importance of applying sunscreen?

Lots of doctors and researchers took issue with the results of the study for several reasons: it wasn’t done double-blind, it wasn’t conducted on people, the results haven’t been duplicated by other studies, and the study didn’t use commercial sunscreen products, just individual active sunscreen ingredients. That last point is important because as any cosmetics chemist will tell you, how a sunscreen is formulated has a significant impact on how the active ingredients function on skin (from spreading and adhering properly to their stability). Testing individual sunscreen ingredients and extrapolating the results to apply to regular sunscreen formulas is like tasting individual ingredients used to make a cake instead of the finished product and then being surprised that the flour doesn’t taste sweet.

On the flipside, other studies have shown the protective effect of certain sunscreen actives against free-radical formation—and a growing body of research is demonstrating that adding antioxidants to sunscreens offsets the negative effect sunscreen can have on skin, especially if it is not reapplied at regular intervals during long periods of sun exposure.

Well-known dermatologist Dr. Leslie Baumann was quoted in the Allure article as agreeing with the questionable study. She stated, “We’ve actually been talking about this for a couple of years.” Dr. Sheldon Pinnell of Skinceuticals fame also weighed in, stating “It’s known that some sunscreens behave in this manner. They get inside the skin and absorb energy, and that energy becomes free radicals…” Lots of dermatologists would disagree with Pinnell’s assertion, and even Pinnell believes that any free-radical damage sunscreen may cause (including by virtue of how the active ingredients work) is counteracted by antioxidants, whether in your sunscreen or in other skin-care products you apply. So as it turns out, there really isn’t cause for concern.

The only thing that is crystal-clear about the Free Radical Biology & Medicine study is that more research is needed to determine whether sunscreen actives as formulated in consumer sunscreens cause measurable free-radical damage on intact human skin. Until conclusive information is available, it is not a wise decision to stop using sunscreen due to fear of free-radical damage. Even if some sunscreen actives do cause free-radical damage, we know it can be offset by antioxidants. We also know that going without sunscreen exposes skin to a long list of problems, the least of those being free-radical damage!

I’ll finish with a quote in the Allure article from Amy Lewis, assistant Clinical Professor of Dermatology at Yale School of Medicine: “Right now we have one small, inconclusive study versus huge amounts of data that show that lack of sun protection causes DNA damage, melanoma, basal-cell and squamous-cell skin cancer, and horrible deformed moles and wrinkles, and there is great evidence for prolonged use of sunscreen to protect against all of those things. If these chemicals cause something, the sun exposure you’re trading it for is going to cause more free radicals.” I couldn’t have said it better myself!

“In order for the products to achieve dramatic results you must use all of them; the skin must be properly conditioned to accept all the products in the line in order for any of the products to work.”

This is one of my all-time favorites because its purpose is to convince you to buy all the products from one line. It is a classic sales technique. In essence, what you are being told is that the line’s wrinkle cream won’t work unless all the other products are used first, so don’t bother buying the wrinkle cream unless you are going to buy everything. In my years of reviewing skin-care routines, I have never seen a cosmetics line with products so unique that you couldn’t substitute a dozen other products for them, if not many that would work better. Further, every cosmetics line has products you should avoid because they contain irritating ingredients, or inadequate amounts of sunscreen, or moisturizers that oversaturate the skin. The term to note here is “dramatic results.” What the cosmetics company considers dramatic results may be dramatically different from what you would really like to see the products do—even if you do use all of them.

A very attractive, young, pert, blonde receptionist who had just heard me do an interview on the radio station where she worked asked me on my way out, “Should a 25-year-old start using anti-aging products?” I thought, what does she want to do, revert to birth? But I knew what she meant and I responded by saying, “the only thing you really need is a great sunscreen, and be sure to never get a tan, and you will do fine; the rest is just skin care, important but not as relevant in any way in comparison to being sun smart.” She sat up and in a 20-something kind of way, said “But I love the sun and I love getting tan, I just don’t want to wrinkle.” I said, “Well then, you might as well buy a lottery ticket, because you probably believe you will win that windfall as well! False hope springs eternal; the reality you live in isn’t how skin works.”

Okay, I was in a mood. I usually just smile and walk away, but it’s getting worse out there, not better and my frustration is at an all-time high. If I believed in conspiracy theories I would say the media is in bed with the cosmetics industry, but alas it isn’t theory, it’s fact. Every time I do a talk show I’m always asked if I’m going to be critical of any of their advertisers, of if I’m going to say anything that might be of legal concern (sort of like Oprah Winfrey saying she didn’t want to eat hamburger). Advertisers are in control of what I say on TV or radio, and even to some extent in print (fashion magazines are a foregone conclusion; they treat me as if I don’t exist or simply don’t know what I’m talking about).

Reporters all over the world ask me what works, but the answer assumes that something must work to get rid of wrinkles. The endless press releases from mainstream cosmetics companies, physician-owned cosmetic companies, and spas and salons of all kinds have created the ultimate, anti-wrinkle products, you just have to find the ones that aren’t lying to you (somehow we know everyone can’t be telling the truth, but the notion that everyone is lying to one degree or another is something most women just won’t believe) and the one in front of you at the moment (especially if you’re feeling vulnerable) or that’s endorsed by a celebrity or has an attractive ad wins every time.

Women seemingly never tire of a product promising it can firm the skin, erase wrinkles, restore youth, fight aging, and on and on. There are literally thousands and thousands of anti-aging products perpetually using the same nebulous yet miraculous claims that often stop just short of lying (or blatantly lie). In some ways it is beyond belief how many products are launched every month, year after year. But because women keep believing the claims from the endless assault of anti-aging/anti-wrinkle products, I guess for me, it’s job security!

Anti-wrinkle. There I said it. Well, to be completely direct and clear, what I’m talking about is that I can barely say the word without faltering or hesitating with a roll of my eyes and an exhausted gasp. Now here’s a term that has been used to death for decades with no learning curve. Ironically, the best and worst formulations all make the same claims. How galling and infuriating.

If a product claims it gets rid of wrinkles we want to believe it, and while there are no products that get rid of wrinkles, as I have written extensively over the past 10 years there are lots of products that can make an impressive change in the appearance of wrinkles. In fact, if you keep using them, you’ll see a big difference (think sunscreens, moisturizers or toners loaded with antioxidants, cell-communicating ingredients, and skin identical ingredients, and exfoliants such as AHA and BHA). So here’s the issue: if my products have the same “anti-wrinkle” benefits as the products I rate highly because the formulas are similar (or if I may brag a bit, often better) why can’t I utter the same word (anti-wrinkle) and get the attention of women the same way other companies do? I can’t tell you how many times I’m asked what anti-wrinkle products I sell (or why I don’t sell products making anti-wrinkle claims). Sigh.

For me to use the term anti-wrinkle to describe my products just hits me below the belt and takes my breath away. Is the term misleading, the way the industry uses it suggesting miracles and the fountain of youth? Absolutely. But without question, well formulated products can reduce lines and make skin look younger, there I said it, anti-wrinkle products do exist.

Back to my point, what am I willing to say or rather what am I not willing to say about my products? This struggle is a problem for my company, particularly my Product Development Manager, Kate, who frequently lectures me about this point. She insists that the ingredients we use in our moisturizers meet my standard for improving the appearance of skin, improving skin cell function, enhancing barrier function, restoring substances to skin that it needs to reduce damage, and yes, fighting wrinkles and make skin look better, which includes looking less wrinkled. What to do? For now, that’s a good question, we are talking about this extensively of late and may make some changes. In the meantime, your feedback is welcomed.

For those of you who know Paula’s work, and given I’m Paula’s Customer Service manager, you may think that sounds blasphemous. Well, that was my stance a few years back. Being both African American and Caucasian, I have naturally tan skin that rarely burns so, I figured there was no need for sunscreen. Interestingly enough, I actually got this idea from my mother who is Caucasian even though she herself wore sunscreen due to having a fair complexion.

Of course along with others, I enjoyed many days outdoors without a care or thought about how the sun was affecting my skin. Who could blame me? Since the damage is silent and for the most case invisible (unless you get a burn), it seems as if nothing is happening.

When I began working for Paula’s Choice, I found that while people with a darker complexion may have a lower risk of sunburn and skin cancer, they are in no way immune to the damage caused by the sun. I also found out that sun exposure is a huge contributor to wrinkles and those pesky little brown spots and ashy skin tone women of color like me don’t like.

Unfortunately, I didn’t just read about these things, I actually began to see them happening (even though I was now using sunscreen, some damage had already been done from my years of neglect). My skin started to look a little blotchy, uneven and didn’t seem to feel as soft. The dead give away though; you got it, those darn brown spots which I had always thought were just age spots anyway. While the first noticeable one above my lip wasn’t bad (I actually even thought of it as little Marilyn Monroe-ish), they seemed to be creeping up all over now and not just on my face. I began to notice a few on my chest and forearms.

Flash backs of baby oil and water bottles came to mind along with full days out in the sun, just lying there soaking it all up. What the heck had I been thinking? Actually I wasn’t thinking and that is the difference between then and now. There is information available and there are products that can help address damage that has already been done as well as products that will help prevent future damage. Trust me, sunscreen is a part of my routine now 365 days a year, rain or shine without fail. It has just become a habit and a good one that I share with the rest of my family (especially my teenage girls) and my skin definitely looks the better for it. Paula often comments on how beautiful my skin looks.

So if you’re feeling the way I used to, the whole ”I don’t really need sunscreen” thing,  think again because everything you do comes to light one day and unless you are going for that uneven, weathered, freckly look, then I suggest you get your hands on a good broad spectrum product and start applying liberally!