If you want to preserve youthful skin and reduce your risk for skin cancer, the sun is out and sunless tanning is in… So what’s with the sunburn art trend?
We all know how dangerous sun exposure is. One of the biggest skin commandments is to wear your broad-spectrum 30+ SPF every day—even in the frigid winter months. So when Dr. Davis says that gradual tanning is safer than sunburn art, it’s time to sit up and take notice of what’s become the season’s biggest high-risk trend.
The process of creating sunburn art is fairly straightforward. You cover up a portion of the skin with sunblock or a stencil to protect only a select portion from sun exposure, then you allow the sun to burn the rest of your skin. Most of us have experienced an unwanted sunburn or two over the years. Is sunburn art really all that dangerous?
“The repetitive nature is what I’m concerned about,” Dr. Davis told NJ.com. “If you go out one time and get sunburned it will heal.” When the skin is burned frequently, however, he points out that it can contract and scar and lead to the development of skin cancer.
“You don’t know what your genetic makeup is,” Dr. Davis explained to writer Kelly Roncace. “And when we talk about skin cancer and melanoma, no one knows how many hours you have to be exposed to develop the disease.”
The take-home message here? Do your skin a long-term favor: Skip the sunburn and cover ALL your skin with SPF. Your future self will thank you.
The full story is available on NJ.com.