Lip Gloss May Increase Chances Of Skin Cancer
Summer is right around the corner and women are gearing up for some fun in the sun. They are buying their new bikinis, putting on some sun tan lotion, and beautifying themselves with the latest lip gloss.
Whatever you girls do it is important that you stay away from the cheap stuff. Studies show that the cheaper brand of lip gloss might be fun – but they do not have any SPF. This means that wearing them could actually increase your risk for skin cancer.
Many dermatologists believe that the translucent sheen that goes on our lips when we put the gloss on actually helps the ultraviolet rays to force through the skin of our lips. The fact that they are fragile without the gloss means that it only makes matters worse.
Dr. Jessica Fewkes, a face and neck skin cancer specialist at Harvard, draws a cautious analogy between wearing non-SPF (sun protection factor) lip gloss in the sun and using baby oil to promote tanning. “You might be able to infer that they both enhance UV exposure,” she says.
Dr. Kevin Cooper, chairman of the dermatology department at Case Western Reserve in Cleveland, explains that any increased penetration of ultraviolet rays would be due to “enhanced optical passage” of the dangerous rays. But the increase, he qualifies, would be small.