Blue Light Can Cause Skin Damage—Use These To Protect Your Skin From It!

By now you probably already know the importance of wearing sunscreen to protect your skin against the harmful UV rays. Yes, you even have to do it while you're staying at home. Sun spots, fine lines, and enlarged pores are just a few of the myriad of skin woes courtesy of excess UV ray exposure. But these days, what we often fail to acknowledge is an even more pervasive skin aggressor: blue light.

As if it isn’t difficult enough to protect our complexion from the sun when we are outdoors (and even indoors), now, you also have to be concerned about this new offender. We spend majority of our days facing a screen of some sort—a laptop, a smartphone, you name it! And we bet that screen time has significantly increased now that we're all cooped up at home. And yes, you guessed right—all these devices emit blue light! (Ed's Note: Some smartphones have a blue light filter, so be sure to turn that on!)

For your information, recent research suggests that the blue light emitted from our cellphones, computer screens, and certain light bulbs is damaging to the health of our skin. Just like outdoor light rays, blue light is also responsible for premature aging, and unprotected light exposure can also lead to dark spots and hyperpigmentation.

“Blue light is thought to contribute to wrinkle formation and skin discoloration,” board-certified dermatologist Ainah Tan told Byrdie. However, High-Energy Visible Light (HEV) rays actually affect and damage our skin in different ways than UVB rays, because they’re capable of penetrating into the deeper layers of the skin rather than just the outermost layer. What we’re trying to say is, they’re capable of tampering with collagen production and our skin’s natural ability to exfoliate with the help of retinoids and acids.

Fortunately, brands are catching on to skin’s latest villain, offering plenty of defensive products to help you prevent skin damage so you can maintain your Netflix binge-watching routine, shameless scroll through apps, and your career without compromising your pursuit of flawless skin. Here are our top picks: