Sun Tan

The protective mechanism of the skin is expressed in still another way, namely, the release of skin pigment (melanin) to protect against injury to the skin from strong doses of sunlight. In the white races, which have comparatively little skin pigmentation, exposure to sunlight increases the amount of pigment produced by the specialized Malpighian cells. The result is a coat of sun tan. The tan­ning is caused by the invisible ultraviolet rays from the sun. The coat of tan disappears as the more highly pigmented cells die and move toward the surface of the skin.

The development of additional skin pig­ment under the influence of sunlight is not an instantaneous process. The attempt to get a coat of tan too quickly, therefore, usually re burn like any other and should be treated accordingly. It can be serious.

The right way to get a sun tan is to limit your exposure at first and gradually increase the amount of time spent in the direct sun­light. If you know that you do not tan, because your skin is light-sensitive, avoid exposure.

Freckles are produced by the same mecha­nism as skin tanning. In this case, however, the areas of increased pigmentation are spotty instead of consistent.

Cosmetics

Cosmetics are beauty aids. Since the search for beauty is a universal and perennial pas­time, the history of cosmetics stretches back into remotest antiquity and may be expected to be reformulated in all future generations. Today in the United States cosmetics are big business. Well over a billion dollars a year is now spent annually on all varieties of cos­metic preparations, including soaps, sham­poos, hand lotions, and the like.

From the standpoint of mental health, the increasing use of cosmetics is probably justi­fied. The pursuit of beauty is a legitimate aim of civilized life. The woman who does not use cosmetics today stands starkly apart from her "sisters under the skin." It is not uncommon to hear a woman say, "I feel positively un­dressed without my lipstick."

The people in the cosmetics business know all this and they say, "We don't sell merchan­dise, we sell illusion." The danger in this is that many cosmetic preparations are over-enthusiastically promoted and overpriced. Women are repeatedly cozened to expect mir­acles from cosmetics, and those miracles never happen.

Cosmetics are not and can never be a sub­stitute for good health. There is no way to "nourish" the skin by creams or lotions or falsely labeled "skin foods" applied from the outside. The skin is nourished, like all body tissues, through its own blood supply. False and misleading names are applied to many cosmetic products. You ought to know that there is no known substance or combination of substances that can live up to the promises suggested in any of the following names: contour cream, crow's-foot cream, deep pore cleaner, enlarged pore preparation, eye wrin­kle cream, miracle oil, nourishing cream, pore paste, rejuvenating cream, scalp food, skin conditioner, skin firm, skin food, skin tonic, eyelash grower, wrinkle eradicator, spot re­ducer, bust developer, bust reducer.

No better cleansing agent than ordinary soap and water has yet been developed. Fre­quent bathing rather than the use of any spe­cial kind of soap is the best way to prevent body odor. On the other hand, too frequent bathing can be harmful to the skin and may occur as compensation for guilt feelings. Skin deodorants and antiperspirants are not objec­tionable, but they are by no means as impor­tant to social success as the advertisements make them out to be.