After-Sun Care

I worry about the concept of “after-sun care.” It sounds as if you can undo all the sun damage you incurred during the day. I admit it’s a great marketing concept, but it is risky business for someone to buy into the notion that skin can be repaired following unprotected sun exposure. If you leave your skin defenseless and exposed to the sun’s rays, and then slather some lotion, toner, or serum on afterward, hoping you can miraculously or even in a minor way heal, eliminate, correct, or cancel the devastating injury to your skin (and all sun exposure over time is devastating), you would be hoping in vain. Slathering on mois­turizer does not help skin heal. Take a look at Chapter 8, which focuses on understanding moisturizers to see how you can best help skin in any situation.