According to Eyesafe, we spend an average of over 12 hours a day — that’s half of our day! — staring at a screen! Let’s face it, we’ve all gotten pretty close with our digital screens, literally & figuratively! From working from home on our desktops, to scrolling through the always-surprising news on our phones, to binge watching TV, many of us spend most of our days cycling through our different devices to keep busy. With all of that time together, it’s almost like we’re in a full-time relationship with our screens! It’s important to know what you are getting into when spending that much time with something and, when it comes to our screens, we’re looking at a lot of blue light.

What is blue light?
Blue light, or high-energy visible (HEV) light, is light that can be detected by the human eye and comes from many sources, including the sun and display screens of electronic devices.

During the day, blue light that comes from the sun is extremely important, helping to regulate our circadian rhythms, our sleep-wake cycles, and even boosting mood.

But blue light isn’t all good, especially when taken in from close distances and at all hours of the day — and, at 12 hours of screen time a day, we are all a little too close to our screens.

How blue light affects your skin
Many people now know the negative effects too much blue light has on our eyes and sleep cycles, but studies on the effects of blue light on our skin are also emerging.

The effect of blue light on our skin is gradual, so visible damage will build up over the years rather than show right away.

Blue light has been proven to cause redness and swelling in the skin, while triggering free radicals, which can lead to earlier signs of aging.

Additionally, because of how much blue light we take in from different sources, instead of regulating the circadian rhythm, it can actually disorient it, disrupting the natural skin regeneration process at night.

How to fight blue light damage on your skin
In our increasingly-digital world, our screens are a very important part of our everyday lives, so it’s important to find ways to keep our skin safe while using them! Here are just a few products and ingredients to look out for to protect yourself from the harmful effects of blue light on your skin:

 Sunscreen: Yes, even when staying in! Mineral broad spectrum zinc oxide sunscreen can help protect against blue light. Sunscreen with soothing ingredients like Calendula is also important to help calm redness from both blue light and UV rays.

Antioxidants: Before applying sunscreen, put on a serum full of antioxidants to protect against free radical damage.

Night cream: Use night cream to support your skin’s natural regenerative cycle that happens while you sleep and can be disrupted by blue light.

Vitamin C: Bathe your skin in Vitamin C with a serum that contains stabilized Vitamin C for a radiance boost.

Try out these products to help protect against the negative effects of blue light:

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CaR Vital Glow Serum Concentrate

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