We live in the most beautiful place on the planet - a blessing, and yet, in some ways, not so much.
Experts tell us there are two leading factors affecting the aging of our skin. One is all the external contributors, but there are also internal causes as well.
"The internal causes are called chronological aging and those are just the genes that you are born with and that's how you age internally. But we can externally age by a variety of things," said Dr. Julie Kenner, a Castle dermatologist.
The most common cause of external aging or photo aging as it's called, ultra violet light. And the doctor says, it's never too early to be concerned about exposure to that light.
"As soon as we're exposed to sunlight and some of the other causes of external aging can be pollution and smoking and things like that. And it's actually important to start taking care of our skin from the get go," said Kenner.
And Dr. Kenner says that applies to people of all ages.
"You know we live in one of the most beautiful climates in the United States and we do have sun all year round. So it is important to be aware of that year round."
By being aware, she means wear sun screen and protective clothing. How about tanning salons?
"Tanning salons are not UVB light - it's UVA light. And although that can brown your skin, it also damages your skin. And UVA is becoming more well known as to how detrimental it is to your skin," said Kenner.
And Dr. Kenner warns, just because it's a cloudy day, it doesn't necessarily mean you are protected from the sun's rays.
"UVA light also comes through cloud cover, comes through windows, and there's been an interesting study published recently showing that in the United States we have more skin cancers as well as more photo-aging."
And where do most of those skin cancers show up? On the left arm because drivers hang that arm out of the car window!
