At this point, I’m sure you have overheard the phrase “blue light” in conversation with friends or read it in an article posted online. In a time when we are more online and in front of a screen than ever before — both out of necessity and for pleasure — more and more people are growing curious about the effects that these actions are going to have on our health.
Perhaps you have already heard the dangers that staring at a screen all day poses for your eyes and how you should protect them with prescription lenses or blue light glasses, but did you know that blue light can influence the quality of your skin?
Today, we will be defining blue light, finally answering the question of whether it is harmful to your health and sharing ways to protect yourself against it when necessary.
What Is Blue Light?
Blue light is part of the spectrum of light that human beings are able to see naturally with their eyes. Blue light is extremely common, making up about one-third of all visible light.
Amongst the different forms of visible light, blue light has the highest energy but shortest wavelength. Blue light gets its name because it is light with blue wavelengths. Among the greatest sources of blue light are the sun and digital screen.
When it comes to the sun, blue light is amongst the light produced by the sun and sent traveling throughout the atmosphere. Light from the sun that has high energy but is shorter in length collides with air molecules. This then causes the blue light to scatter everywhere throughout the natural world.
Blue light is also found in the screens of your digital devices. Since so much of our lives revolve around our phones, laptops, tablets, and television screens, we are being exposed to blue light now more than ever before.
Is Blue Light Good or Bad?
Simply put, blue light is both good and bad for you. The effect that blue light has on you depends on how much unprotected exposure that you have to it and when you are privy to the light.
Generally speaking, blue light from the sun is regarded as healthy during the day for its ability to boost a man’s attentiveness and even improve his overall mood. However, exposure to blue light at night can be an issue.
This is not too difficult to understand. Men have been naturally exposed to this form of blue light since the beginning of time.
Disrupting Sleep Quality
The most discussed health concern regarding blue light is the negative impact that it can have on a person’s sleep schedule and, in turn, their overall well-being.
Working on your laptop late at night or staying up watching videos on your phone can contribute to the suppression of melatonin. When not resting correctly, melatonin is not always secreted. Melatonin is an important hormone that is primarily associated with controlling a person’s sleep cycle.
Affects Your Skin
When it comes to skin — the thing we are really here to talk about — blue light can directly impact the look and feel of your complexion in both positive and negative ways.
As far as positive effects go, professionals have used blue light in various skin procedures to treat different skin conditions. The purpose of these sorts of procedures is to harness the healing properties of blue light for your benefit. It has been used to successfully minimize undesirable symptoms that accompany conditions like acne and other skin conditions.
Still, what has the effect of blue light been on the skin when it is not being carefully used in specially designed equipment by professionals? The results in these instances have been less than good.
Increased Eye Strain
There are compelling findings pertaining to blue light that suggest that the blue light that is emitted by electronic devices can damage your skin. It is likely that you have never even considered that using an electronic device for a long period of time would harm your skin.
It makes sense that it may strain our eyes or keep us up at night, in turn harming our health, but hurt our skin? How? When emitted closely to your skin, the size of the wavelength of blue light and its high energy level makes it ideal for damaging your skin, specifically your skin cells.
Premature Aging
Blue light can target and manipulate your skin cells and, with consistent exposure, can cause them to shrink or completely be eliminated.
The main consequence of this happening is premature aging. Deteriorating skin cells result in what is a natural aging process is sped up, and exposure to blue light for even just an hour can act as a catalyst for premature aging with visible signs including wrinkles, eye bags, and sagging.
Aging and the symptoms that come with it, like a reduction in collagen and elasticity, are natural and nothing worth being embarrassed about. Aging prematurely, however, before your natural time is a sign of poor health and can take away from your appearance.
To prevent this from happening, invest in skin care products that defend you against the negative effects of blue light.
The Re(Set) Collection
MadeMan’s The Re(Set) Collection is a perfect example of skincare designed with man’s every need in mind.
Not only is the collection made with convenience in mind with there being just two products and two steps that can be completed in under two minutes, but the collection also contains ingredients that defend against everything from sun damage to pollutants to blue light.
The Resetter
The Resetter is the first product in the collection. This cleanser doubles as a shaving gel that gets rid of razor burn and ingrown hairs. It does not contain harsh chemicals that could potentially harm your already tender skin.
Instead, its formula was carefully crafted to provide all users with a champion cleanse without breaking down the skin’s moisture barrier and messing with its pH balance.
When it comes to defending against harsh light, the water-based cleanser’s ingredients pull their weight. Sunflower seed oil, in particular, is used in The Resetter for its innate harmful ray reduction.
As far as anti-aging goes, The Resetter successfully relies on ingredients like citric acid to help. Citric acid is a natural exfoliator, allowing it to help reverse the effects of premature aging.
The ingredient is a natural pH adjuster that rids the skin of dead cells as it unclogs pores. The main focus of citric acid is the skin’s hydrating support matrix which helps to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.
The Refresher
The Refresher is the second product in the collection. After washing your face, you must use a quality moisturizer. Our moisturizer is designed to use complex nutrients to restore and repair. If you are struggling to treat the effects of blue light overexposure, this is the product for you.
The Refresher is fast absorbing and contains an antioxidant blend made to fix fine lines and boost the natural production of collagen. These abilities come from its ingredients. Just like The Resetter, The Refresher is water-based and uses carefully selected all-natural ingredients.
One of these ingredients is specifically included for its ability to defend against blue light. Indian ginseng extract is an extract from the plant ashwagandha that directly protects your skin cells from the light coming from all the screens around you.
While it may be impossible for you to reduce your exposure to digital blue light because of work, adding The Refresher containing Indian ginseng extract into your daily routine will instantly revive you.
The signs of fatigue that were amassed from your exposure to this technology that you didn't even realize were happening will be wiped away and replaced with a clean and healthy glow.
The moisturizer also contains ingredients specifically used for anti-aging purposes for any men struggling to combat already contracted negative symptoms from blue light exposure.
For example, a chicory root is an essential part of our product’s formula.
Chicory root can have a lifting and tightening effect on the skin, assisting with a loss of elasticity and sagging and simultaneously increasing your collagen production. Together, these effects guide your skin towards near-immediate improvement in your skin’s youthful appearance.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it’s better to be safe than sorry. While some sources of blue light are natural and are believed to provide positive emotional and psychological benefits, there are instances in which visible light can do more harm than good.
Taking that extra precaution to use skincare products that specifically defend you against blue light and premature aging should be enough to keep you safe without interrupting your day-to-day life in the digital age.
Sources:
[The dangers of blue light: True story!] | PubMed
[Light-induced damage to the eye] | PubMed
