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Do you selfie? If you do then you might want to rethink how many you are taking because it could be prematurely ageing your skin.
Experts are now saying that the electromagnetic radiation as wel as the High-Energy Visible (HEV) light emitted through your smart phone can cause wrinkles, similar to the effects of sun exposure.
“Those who take a lot of selfies and bloggers should worry,” Dr Simon Zoakei, Medical Director of the Harley Street Clinic in London tells marie claire UK.
“Even the blue light we get from our screens can damage our skin. I think there is a gap in the market for products which protect because I know there are people who take lots of selfies. Bloggers come to me and I have seen that there is damage there and there is ageing taking place. It’s a different wavelength of radiation so sunscreen will not block it.”
But it’s not just selfie users that are affected, simply using your phone as a phone (ie holding it up to your face) can also affect the skin. And we’ve all heard of the dreade tech-neck from looking down at our phones too much.
“The increase in dynamic facial motions during the photos, like pursing the lips, animated or exaggerated facial expressions, repetitive squinting and a downward tilted gaze to read texts or emails, can all lead to increased wrinkle formation on the face and neck,” Dr. Amy Perlmutter, a dermatologist with New York Dermatology Group tells Fashionista.
Besides taking less selfies, and keeping your chin up as you type, there are a number of new products hitting the market, aimed at deflecting the HEV and Infared red light emitted from smart phones, computers and other electronic devices, in the same way that we use SPF to combat UVA and UVB rays.
“HEV and IR light have been shown to penetrate the skin more deeply than the traditionally marketed UVA, UVB and UVC rays,” says New York based beauty brand Make Beauty.
Which they claim can “lead to premature ageing and skin damage from the blue-violet and invisible light emitted from [these screens].”
While jury is still out on whether these products are essential or not, we’re thinking either way it might be time to try tech-tox…
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