Have y’all been a victim of raccoon-like eyes after constantly working on laptops, phones, iPad, etc? Us, too. We eventually found the culprit that has been damaging our skin day in and day out. It’s blue light and it is pretty powerful. After some digging, we learned how it damages our skin and what ways we can protect our skin from it. All you need to do is sit back with a cup of coffee and read all the deets so that next time while facing the screen, you can tackle blue light.
What is blue light?
There’s light everywhere we go. Sometimes they are visible and some of these lights are invisible. All of them are arranged on a spectrum according to their wavelength. The invisible rays are UV A, B, and C that fall under the wavelength 100 nm to 400 nm (nm means nanometer that is used to measure light). Then there are visible lights, of which blue light is one of them. It falls next to UV rays. Blue light’s wavelength range is 380 nm to 500 nm. If the wavelength is closer to 500 nm then the risk is less. The blue light wavelength closer to UV rays’ wavelength is more damaging. Before we talk about how to protect our skin from damage, let’s know how to use blue light therapy which is known to improve skin health.
How does blue light damage your skin?
Blue light is one of the most common stressors leading to oxidative stress for our skin. The way it works is by entering our skin and reaching the Collagen. Collagen is formed by fibrils which in turn are made up of peptides. When blue light reaches Collagen, it damages these fibrils and leads to depression on the skin ie. fine lines and wrinkles. They also dehydrate the skin which makes it appear lifeless. Generally, when our skin goes through damage, our body signals the melanocytes to produce melanin in that region and protect it from further damage. Hence, you can also end up with pigmentation that can take months to be treated. It is said that it can disrupt your sleep too and hence, two hours before bedtime, you must switch off all the screens to relax your body. Pretty stressful, right? To sum it up, blue light potentially leads to the following skin concerns:
- Pigmentation
- Dryness
- Sagging
- Fine lines and wrinkles
- Dullness
- Disrupt sleep cycle
This may confuse you about how there are blue light therapy masks if blue light causes such great damage. Let us explain that.
Does blue light therapy work?
Yes, but it is the game of wavelength. The blue light treatment masks that you will find will have blue light of wavelengths 460 nm to 490 nm. This wavelength can treat your skin with uneven texture, pore size, and redness. You can keep on this mask for 15 minutes once a week initially. As your skin gets used to it, you can use it twice a week. Along with blue, orange and red light are also used to treat the skin. To get the benefit of all, you can try Éclair LED Therapy Mask. It’s a smart device that automatically switches off after 15 minutes to prevent overexposure.
What to pick for your skin to ensure protection from blue light damage?
The majority of our day revolves around gadgets. Our eyes and skin go through much stress with blue light, external stressors, UV rays, and pollution around. So to protect our skin from blue light, we can do the following-
1. Blue light protection glasses/guards
These are the polarised glasses that can block the blue lights from damaging the thin skin around your eyes. You also do get these blue light protection films that you can apply on the screen. The modern age technology has a solution for blue light damage in the gadget itself by switching on to ‘night mode’ that makes the screen yellow and prevents the harsh rays. Use everything under your control to block those blue lights from penetrating your skin.
2. Sunscreen
Sunscreen is the obvious answer to block harmful rays like UV rays and even blue light. The chemical and the physical filters can block or reflect the harmful rays and stop them from penetrating the skin. These filters just stop the free radicals from stressing your skin so it makes sense that sunscreen can protect your skin from almost all external stressors. No wonder the skincare nerds scream at the top of their voices to preach about sunscreen. Learn more about sunscreen and how to read its labels here.
Sublime recommends Put Simply Beat The Sun Sunscreen. It has SPF 50 and PA ++++. It is formulated to work as a moisturiser and sunscreen together. To make it one of the best picks, they have kept in mind to keep the product reef safe too. Saves your skin and the environment!
3. Collagen
Blue light can penetrate deep within your skin to get hold of collagen complex and break it down. This leads to saggy, wrinkled, dull skin. So all you need to ensure is that there is no such damage by supplying Collagen to your skin. This just helps to treat even minor damage quickly and make the skin healthier. There are many collagen-rich supplements available and also serums that boost Collagen production. Learn more about Collagen here.
Sublime recommends Neemli Naturals Glycolic Acid & Hydrolyzed Collagen Pit Repair Concentrate. It has Hyaluronic acid, AHAs, Hydrolysed Collagen, and Niacinamide to repair the pit marks caused due to picking on pimples. It suits all skin types.
4. Antioxidants
Blue light leads to free radicals which create oxidative stress on our skin. Eventually, you end up with dull, wrinkled, and pigmented skin. To prevent this, you need antioxidants in your skincare. It fights free radicals and brightens your complexion. Vitamin C is known to be the powerhouse of Antioxidants which is why it is recommended to use Vitamin C in the AM routine too. You can also use Vitamin E, Niacinamide, Coenzyme Q10, Berries, Licorice, etc to fight free radicals from blue light. Learn more about Antioxidants here.
Sublime recommends Dear, Klairs Freshly Juiced Vitamin C Drop Serum. It suits even sensitive skin and is packed with antioxidants. It is a non-irritating formula and hence beginner-friendly too!
Summary
Blue light is the monster coming out of your gadgets and damaging your skin by penetrating deep within. But with modern problems, there are modern solutions like switching to ‘night mode’ in the gadgets, using blue light protection glasses, a Collagen-rich diet, Antioxidants-rich skincare ingredients, Sunscreen, etc. After reading this, do try a week of switching off all your screens for two hours before bedtime and let us know in the comments if it helped you to improve your sleep quality!
- Divya Salvi
