What’s your smartphone doing to your skin?
Over the past decade, mobiles have been slowly damaging our skin. Sonia Haria seeks a solution
‘Brands are creating innovative products to protect the skin from pollution’
This year marks a decade since smartphones hit the mainstream. But while our ability to communicate has improved, it seems our skin has suffered as a result. American dermatologist Dr Howard Murad has blamed smartphones for an increase in skin damage and premature ageing, with many other experts classing the blue light emitted from mobile phones as a type of skin “pollution”.
“Every day, our skin is affected by this blue light,” says Murad. “To put it into context, blue light – with its short, high-energy wavelength – penetrates the skin deeper than UVA and UVB rays. Blue light rays damage the skin and cause visible signs of ageing, including uneven skin tone, pigmentation and wrinkles.” In June this year, Murad launched the City Skin Age Defence SPF 50 as part of his eponymous line; one of the ingredients is lutein, a potent antioxidant that creates a barrier on the skin to protect it from blue light.
Defence certainly seems like the best choice against the effects of blue light, so using a potent antioxidant serum every morning can really help to protect the skin from damage. Paula’s Choice Resist Anti-aging Super Antioxidant Serum contains a stable form of vitamin C (in many other creams and serums, the vitamin C loses potency as soon as it is exposed to air) and is one of the best around. For £33, it may not be cheap, but it doesn’t have a luxury price tag, either. Another good option is the bestselling CE Ferulic serum by Skinceuticals, which creates a shield for the skin to protect it from environmental pollution and damage.
Pollution has become one of the biggest beauty buzzwords of the year. New research from The NPD Group, a global research company, has found that sales of anti-pollution skincare in the UK have grown by 112 per cent in the six months from January to June 2017, with a value of this emerging market set at £3.1 million, and set to increase. “Brands are creating innovative products to protect the skin from pollution, and from the blue light emitted by digital devices,” says June Jensen, the director of NPD Beauty UK. “We expect to see more products like this in the future, as people aim to protect their skin from the harmful damage of city and digital life.”
According to Jose Ginestar, the scientific director for luxury skincare brand Sisley, the past decade has seen “more research in labs to find out the effects of blue light on the skin. Particularly for the eye area, we have found this results in the appearance of crow’s feet wrinkles, fine lines, and a lack of firmness of the eyelids.”
Next Tuesday, the brand launches its latest eye cream, Sisleÿa L’intégral Anti-age Eye & Lip Cream, which protects the skin around the eyes from the damaging effects of blue light. It also helps to improve the appearance of dark circles from lack of sleep (since the blue light from mobile phones has been linked to sleep disorders).
Blue light aside, it seems we need to worry about “tech necks”, too. Although primarily referring to the neck pain that occurs from constantly looking down at your mobile phone, the tech neck typically sees sagging of the jawline and neck area. “The constant folding of the skin induced by the repetitive motion of looking down plays a role in the skin ageing of the neck,” says Ginestar. “Moreover, the skin of the neck is very thin and delicate and prone to wrinkling.”
A firming neck cream – like the Tensolift Neck Cream by Natura Bissé – is a good, reliable option for remedying tech neck. If you want to go one step further, the facialist and skincare expert Abigail James advises clients complaining of tech neck to undertake a course of radio frequency, which aims to tighten the collagen fibres on the neck to give a more lifted appearance.
“Technology is affecting our posture, skin and eyes in a negative way,” says James, and though there are ways of combating the damage, “thanks to our busy lifestyles, one thing is certain: we’re entering a new era of skin concerns.”