Your Skin and the Sun

Our skin evolved alongside sunlight, and that relationship is layered and worth exploring. This episode offers a grounded, holistic look at the sun and the skin.

We talk about what different types of light are doing when they meet the skin UVA, UVB, and red and near-infrared. How morning light shapes your circadian rhythm, your sleep, your mood. How to ease your skin into the season after the winter. How the skin barrier affects how your skin handles the sun. The difference between chemical and mineral sunscreens, and what to look for when choosing a formula.

This short episode is packed with practical takeaways for building a relationship with sunlight as we move into the warmer months.

To shop Warmth and explore the full collection visit: https://skinfrequency.co/products/warmth

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:03

What happens when we stop trying to fix the skin and start listening to it? This is Skin Freaks, a podcast about looking closer and discovering what the beauty industry doesn't want you to know. I'm Summer, anesthetician, holistic facialist, and formulator with over 20 years experience. Here we'll pull back the curtain and explore what truly supports the skin. For practitioners and conscious consumers alike, this is a space for honest conversation and new ways of seeing. Let's get into it. It's finally June, so I thought this would be a good time to dive into all things sun. The conversation around sun can be a bit confusing. There's so much information out there, and it doesn't all point in the same direction. One person saying the sun should be avoided, someone else saying we need more sunlight. The relationship between our skin and the sun has existed as long as humans have. Our skin evolved in sunlight, and today we'll talk about how to strengthen that relationship in a way that feels intentional and grounded. Sunlight is a spectrum of different wavelengths that interact with the body in different ways. Some are deeply supportive, some can be damaging in excess, some help set our internal rhythms, others trigger vitamin D production, and some reach deeper into the skin, affecting collagen, pigmentation, and how the skin changes over time. The two types of UV radiation that get talked about the most are UBA and UVB. They are both ultraviolet light, but behave differently. UVB is the shorter wavelength, it carries more energy, and it's also the rays that are responsible for burning if exposed with too much at once. UVB also triggers vitamin D synthesis in the body, affecting bone health, immune function, mood, hormone regulation, and inflammation. That cascade begins when UVB hits bare skin. UVB is almost entirely blocked by glass. If you're sitting by a sunny window in your car or at work, you're getting the light, but not the wavelength your body needs to make vitamin D. UVA is a longer wavelength and it carries less energy than UVB, but it penetrates deeper down into the dermis where collagen and elastin live. UVA is more connected to photoaging, the slow breakdown of collagen and elastin, fine lines, and deeper pigmentation changes. UVA is present all day. It doesn't fade in the morning or the evening the way UVB does. It's there all year round on cloudy days and it passes through glass. So your morning drive at the window, on a plane, UVA is reaching you in all of those places. Then there's red and near infrared light, the same wavelengths used in red light therapy panels and masks, the kind many of you might have at home or have seen popping up everywhere lately. The sun offers those same wavelengths naturally, every morning and every evening. They're most concentrated when the sun is low on the horizon, roughly the first hour after sunrise and the hour leading into sunset. Red and near infrared light support mitochondrial function, the energy production inside every cell. They support collagen synthesis, circulation, tissue repair, and they have noticeable effects on skin, inflammation, and sleep. Morning light also sets your circadian rhythm, your body's internal clock. It's the system that regulates when you feel awake and tired, when certain hormones rise and fall, when your body wants to repair itself, and when your nervous system starts shifting towards rest. When natural light enters your eyes in the first hour after waking, it sends a signal to the brain that the day has started. That signal moves through the whole system. It anchors your cortisol curve, influences your mood and digestion, and sets the timer for melatonin production later on in the evening. So your ability to wind down and sleep deeply at night is connected to whether your body received a strong light signal in the morning. This is also why I would suggest leaving your sunglasses off during that early morning window if possible. The light needs to reach your eyes to send that signal, and sunglasses filter out much of the natural light spectrum that your body is using to set the rhythm for the day. So even just 10 to 15 minutes of bare eye exposure in the gentle morning light can make a difference in how your whole system runs. At noon, when the sun is directly overhead, the balance of all these wavelengths shift. UVB becomes more intense, and the red near-infrared light is more scattered, and the light coming through carries more potential to burn. So a walk at seven in the morning and a walk in the afternoon are two completely different experiences for your skin. One of the best ways to protect your skin is to build a connection to the light in early spring when the sun isn't as strong. After months of being mostly indoors and out of direct sunlight, the skin has naturally lowered its own protective response. It has basically been on standby throughout the colder months. So if you go from a winter spent mostly inside with very little sun on your skin straight into a full day outside in June at the beach or on a boat or in the garden, you're asking your skin to handle a level of UV exposure for which it hasn't built a capacity yet. What the skin was designed for is a slow buildup, a gradual reintroduction to the light across the spring months, gives it time to start adapting again. Melanin is also a part of that protection system, the pigment your body makes in response to sunlight. It absorbs UV and shields the deeper layers underneath. What we're seeing is a tan on the outside, but what's happening underneath is your body building its natural protection. And that process doesn't happen in one afternoon. It takes repeated gentle exposure across days and weeks. And spring is the window where that can happen. You can go outside in the morning for 20 minutes and sit out in the early evening with your arms uncovered. The goal is to give your skin a daily signal that the season is changing and the light is increasing so it can start preparing. Eating fresh seasonal foods can also support your skin in the sun. Foods abundant in spring and summer tend to be lighter, more hydrating, more colorful, more naturally rich in compounds that help the skin from the inside. Deeply pigmented fruits and vegetables are rich in keratene, berries and herbs are full of polyphenols, and both help support your skin's resiliency to sun exposure. The same kind of intelligence found in those summer fruits also exists in certain plant oils. Plants grown in full sun have spent millions of years developing their own ways to deal with UV radiation. Because they stand in that light all day with no way to step into the shade, their leaves, seeds, and oils contain compounds that protect them from light damage. And when we extract these oils and put them on our skin, we bring some of that protection with it. Red raspberry seed oil is one of the most studied for this. It has a high concentration of antioxidants and a particular fatty acid profile, which gives it some natural sun protective qualities. Carrot seed oil, it's rich in beta-carotene. That compound that makes carrots orange also has that sun protection quality. These oils aren't a replacement, but they can be a part of a support network. They offer antioxidant defense and nourishment. The SPF in a sun protection product stands for sun protection factor. It is essentially a multiplier. It tells you how much longer you can stay in the sun before burning, compared to wearing no sunscreen at all. So if your unprotected skin would start to burn after 10 minutes of midday sun, an SPF 30 multiplies that by 30, giving you roughly five hours before you would hit that same point. That equation applies specifically to chemical sunscreens. Chemical sunscreens don't sit on top of the skin, they absorb into it. Once they're in the skin, they work by intercepting UV rays and converting into heat, which then releases out of the skin. The UV never reaches the deeper layers because it's been transformed into something else before it gets there. But because that's a chemical reaction, the filters doing that work get used up in the process. Every time UV hits them, they're converting it and then they start breaking down. That's why you need to apply chemical sunscreen 20 minutes before going outside. They need time to fully absorb and bind to the skin before they can work. And you need to reapply every two hours because they are constantly degrading from use. Zinc works in a completely different way. Zinc doesn't absorb into the skin, it stays on top, forming a physical layer that reflects and scatters UV radiation before it has a chance to penetrate. There's no chemical reaction happening inside the skin. Nothing is being converted, nothing's entering the bloodstream. And because nothing is being used up, that two-hour countdown doesn't apply the same way. You would only need to reapply if the zinc has been physically removed from sweating or swimming or wiping it off, not because the protection has worn out. It also works immediately. The second it's on your skin, it's reflecting UV, no waiting period. Zinc is naturally broad spectrum, covering both UVA and UVB, and it's photostable. It doesn't break down in sunlight. Beyond protection, zinc is a powerful anti-inflammatory. It's one of those rare ingredients that's both protective and nourishing at the same time. Titanium dioxide is also a mineral sunscreen, but it works differently from zinc. When UV hits it, it can produce free radicals on the skin. So even though they're both mineral sunscreens, what they do on the skin is different. When you pick up a mineral sunscreen and look at the ingredients, it will usually say zinc oxide, but that doesn't tell you everything. It doesn't tell you if the zinc is nano or non-nano, and it doesn't tell you if it's coated or uncoated. And those differences matter when you're choosing what to put on your skin. Non-nanozinc is zinc in its regular particle size. The particles are large enough that they can't pass through the skin barrier, so they stay on the surface and they reflect UV. Nanozinc is much smaller, and it's usually used because it makes mineral sunscreen feel more elegant, it's sheer, it blends more easily, and it reduces that white cast. But smaller particles behave differently, and there's still an ongoing conversation around how nanozinc interacts with the skin, especially if the skin's inflamed, irritated, or has a compromise barrier. Then there's coating. A lot of commercial zinc is coated with either silicones or a mineral-based coating. And again, to help it feel smoother and spread more evenly. But pure uncoated zinc has this beautiful anti-inflammatory quality. And once the zinc is coated, it's no longer in direct contact with the skin in the same way. So you lose part of what makes zinc so supportive. For me, I wanted something titanium dioxide free. I wanted non-nano, uncoated zinc, and blended beautifully, feeling nourishing on the skin. Our warmth zinc balm is my personal favorite form of sun protection, and it's what I feel comfortable using daily. With 17% zinc blended with sun harmonizing oils like jojoba, red raspberry, tamanho, carrot, sea buckthorn, and cocoa gives it a subtle tint that makes it blend really beautifully into skin without that typical white cast that many zinc products can leave behind. It nourishes while it protects, and you get anti-inflammatory benefits of the uncoated zinc oxide along with UVA and UVB protection. Many formulators talk about how difficult pure zinc is to work with. We blend every batch in a huge Vitamix to get that smooth, creamy, even consistency. I feel really good about it for myself, but this is a personal choice and it's about finding an option that feels right for you. We hear all the time from clients who haven't been able to find a mineral sun protection that works for them. They say that it irritates their skin and makes their eyes water, or it just doesn't sit well. But warmth is so nourishing that a lot of people end up using it at night as well. We hear from people who apply it to a breakout or an irritated area at night that by the morning it's gone or significantly reduced. Warmth isn't a certified SPF product. In Canada, in the US, SPF is regulated like a drug. And getting a certified number on the label takes years and it's very expensive. I recently heard about a brand that spent the past five years getting a formula certified as an SPF 30, and their formula contains 18% zinc. We use a 17%, and so that will generally fall in a range of an SPF 25 to 30. For me, it's about protecting the skin while also calming inflammation, supporting the barrier, and making sun care feel like a part of healing skincare. And this brings us to another layer, the condition that your skin is in when it meets the sun's rays. Think about the difference between sun-hitting skin that's healthy, hydrated, and supported versus sun connecting with skin that's peeling, inflamed, dehydrated with a compromise barrier. It's the same sun in both situations, but the skin it's meeting is in two very different states. Healthy skin can take that light in, do what it needs to do with it, and recover. Supporting the barrier in the microbiome is the foundation of everything we create at skin frequency. And we go deeper into these conversations and how you can heal and support the barrier in other episodes, if that's something you want to explore. A holistic relationship with the sun is about more than just solely relying on a sun protection product, but in all the small ways you move through the day and the light, finding shade during the strongest part of the day, especially around high noon, when the sun is at its most intense, wearing hats and loose long cotton or linen layers if you're going to be outside for extended periods. And listening to the ways your skin is communicating with you. When it starts to feel hot or you notice it getting pink, that's your skin saying it's had enough of the day. It's time to go inside, find some shade or cover up. And if you do end up getting a little more sun than you meant to, keep your routine really simple that night. Start with a gentle oil cleanse, then mist with equilibrium to cool the skin and provide antioxidant-rich hydration. After that, you can apply one of the beeswax balms, either enrich or abundance to help soothe, replenish, and support the skin overnight. And you can even blend a little warmth into the balm as well, because those antioxidant qualities will help soothe the skin. So when we bring this all together, it's really not about fearing the sun or being careless with it. It's about building a more mindful relationship with it. Starting in early spring with short windows of morning light, let your skin slowly wake back up after winter instead of going from no sun to full summer exposure all at once. Eat with the seasons, watermelon, mangoes, berries, foods rich in antioxidant and carotenoids, become part of your skin and support how your body meets the light. Support the skin topically with zinc and sun harmonizing oils like red raspberry and carrot and jojoba. And when you're outside for longer stretches, wear a hat, find shade during the strongest part of the day, and reapply zinc if you've been swimming or sweating. So I hope something in this episode helps you feel more connected and confident as we move into the warmer months. So take what resonates and leave whatever doesn't. Skin Freaks is brought to you by Skin Frequency. Formula is built around what the skin actually needs and nothing it doesn't. If this episode resonated, share it with someone who'd find it useful and subscribe so you don't miss the next one.