Many of us these days overuse our digital devices for even the smallest things like texting a sibling in the next room or watching Tik Tok videos for hours to fill in the smallest gap of boredom. Have we ever wondered where we are heading with this much digitalization around us? Many, especially with the Covid 19 pandemic period are experiencing something called “Digital Stress”. Digital stress causes various physical and mental health concerns such as declining eye health, screen time addiction, poor sleeping habits, anxiety of being around real people and premature skin ageing, now commonly known as “Digital Ageing”.
One of the main impacts of digital ageing is caused by uncontrolled and prolonged exposure to blue light or known as High energy visible (HEV) light from the screens of our digital devices. Blue light is known to hit deeper into the skin layers compared to UVA and UVB. This is why more extensive research is needed than what we already know about the long term exposure of blue light on the ageing process of skin.
When you guys think of skin protection, sunscreen is probably the first thing that comes to mind. Putting on mineral sunscreen to protect your skin from harmful UV rays & blue light is the number one thing to do to prevent skin damage from both UV and blue light. However, not all of us do this when we are predominantly indoors and on our digital devices either on our work computers, smartphones or Netflix binging. Protecting your skin from UV and blue light exposure indoors is equally as important as doing it for the outdoors.
Prolonged blue light emission or HEV is known to produce free radicals that damage DNA in skin cells and cause premature ageing . Free radicals are made in our body, but so are antioxidants that negate it. While our bodies can normally handle the naturally occurring free radicals it produces, the large amounts coming from prolonged and uncontrolled exposure to the sun and digital devices can be very much overpowering.
What's scary is that millennials check their phones on an average of 150 times a day. That's almost three hours and 15 minutes! Plus, working in a virtual environment for an additional 8 hours, that’s a whopping 11 hours plus of blue light exposure a day!
Dr Murad, a leading dermatologist, explains that “spending four eight-hour workdays in front of a computer exposes you to the same amount of energy as 20 minutes in the mid-day sun”. Think you are “protected” from the sun from being indoors in an air-conditioned room all day? Think again...
This figure is most likely going to increase as the Covid 19 pandemic has caused a dramatic shift towards online activities with virtual work days, online meetings ,virtual lectures, virtual gyms, virtual coffee meets and not forgetting those Netflix binges...
Rest assured ,at Yindi, our products are backed by science. Yindi Urbanite Blue Light Protection + Hydrating Mist contains clinically proven & trademarked extracts that have been tested in vitro (lab setting) and in vivo (on human volunteers) to demonstrate reduction in Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) due to blue light emission which is responsible for the loss of collagen and elastin fibers, resulting in fine wrinkles, sagging, rough patches and hyperpigmentation.
*For further information on references, contact our team at Yindi Naturals