HYDERABAD: With the rate at which technology has progressed in a short period, combined with the remote working scenario, the majority of us spend hours staring at our gadgets either for work or leisure. While our smart devices offer us the ultimate convenience, allowing us to lead a hassle-free life, they come with their fair share of cons.
Speaking of cons, one of the things gadgets are notoriously known for is the blue light they emit. Now, it’s well known that blue light has a host of harmful effects such as hampering the quality of your sleep, affecting your eyesight in the long run, etc. However, blue light also inflicts significant damage on our skin. But what can we do to avoid this?
The blue light impact
It’s said that blue light is beneficial during the day as it boosts reaction times and uplifts your mood. However, blue light can be detrimental to our skin and overall well-being in the long run, especially when absorbed at night.
Ultimately, blue light results in hyperpigmentation, possible photoageing, and the breakdown of collagen, leading to wrinkled skin - not something that sounds appealing, is it? Dr Merin Liza Jacob, director & co-founder of Green And Beige says, “It penetrates the skin’s epidermis and reaches the dermis layer...blue light damages dermal fibroblasts and reduces the extracellular matrix.
In a nutshell, prolonged exposure to blue light results in premature skin ageing through shrinkage or even death of skin cells. In fact, long-term exposure to blue light can make your skin pigmented, and a mere 60 minutes is sufficient to trigger these effects. Thirty hours of exposure to blue light from smartphone or laptop screens can increase the inflammation level in skin cells by 40 per cent.”
Switching on the blue light filter on your phones and laptop is not the solution. A blue light shield for your skin Simply put, it’s time to step up your skincare routine game. When purchasing a product, look out for ingredients that will protect your skin from the blue light- much like looking for sunscreens to shield against UV rays. Dr Merin suggests, “While the evolution of sunscreens has created a lot of murky waters in terms of their toxicity to the water bodies and the organisms in them, blue light protection has, fortunately, taken a clean and sustainable route.
Antioxidants such as vitamin C, E, and categories of B along with Ferulic Acid, Polyphenols, and Flavonoids are known to be effective in a small manner in combating the free radical damage caused by blue light. But they do not protect you from it. Capsanthin esters from red bell peppers have been shown to absorb and deflect these blue light radiations. They also impart a remedial action in terms of the damages inflicted by these rays”.
Today, clean beauty products that minimise blue light damage and are gentle and effective are easily available in the market. Clean beauty also ensures that products are safe not just for human skin but also for the entire planet while deriving potent ingredients to safeguard your skin. So, regardless of whether you spend more time indoors or outdoors, ensure you are shielded from blue light the clean beauty way.
Anuja Pandey
(The author is a social media influencer @loftyspectrums and lifestyle coach)