How Your Phone is Messing with Your Skin

By Skinmedix on June 14, 2013 in anti-aging, beauty

You feel like completely lost without it, but your lifeline to your friends, family, and work could be wreaking havoc on your skin.

Habit: Squinting your eyes to read the small type on your screen.

Problem: Crow’s feet and 11 lines (the vertical frown line between the brows), which normally don’t show up until your 30s or 40s, are showing up more and more on people in their 20s.

Quick Fix: Increase your font size to “Grandma” (20pts or bigger), and up your screen’s brightness. Look for products with argireline to temporarily freeze muscle movements. Some studies show up to a 60% reduction in wrinkle depth in one month of use.

We recommend:

Kinerase C8 Peptide Deep Wrinkle Treatment
PCA Skin ExLinea Peptide Smoothing Serum
GloTherapeutics Super Serum

Habit: Constantly looking down to check texts, emails, Facebook, etc.

Problem: It’s called text-neck—a slack, untoned neck and jawline caused by a breakdown in collagen and elastin. These tiny fibers only have an infinite number of times they can fold. The constant up-and-down movement weakens this support structure.

Quick Fix: Hold your phone eye level to minimize folding at the neck. Apply a skin-firming, peptide-rich cream on your jawline and down your neck. According to a study in Molecular Pharmaceutics, products containing high levels of Matrixyl can nearly double collagen production.

We recommend:

Neostrata Firming Collagen Booster
Exuviance Collagen Triple Boost Serum
GloTherapeutics gloPeptide plus Defense

Habit: Talking long enough that your phone gets hot against your face.

Problem: Prolonged exposure to heat from any source can increase melanin production in that area—and if brown spots and an uneven tone weren’t bad enough, research shows they can make you look up to 10 years older!

Quick fix: Use a handsfree headset or speakerphone. A brightening cream, with ingredients like licorice, can help fade unwanted spots.

We recommend:

Vivite Vibrance Therapy
DermaQuest Retinol Youth Brightening Serum
SkinMedica LYTERA Skin Brightening Complex

Habit: Pressing your face against your phone. (See those oil and makeup streaks on your screen?)

Problem: The touch-screen trend has caused a rise in acne in the “phone zone”—temples, cheeks, and chin. The dirt and bacteria that live on your screen are transferred to your skin when you talk on the phone which may lead to breakouts.

Quick fix: Clean your phone daily with an anti-bacterial wipe. Use a benzoyl peroxide lotion or glycolic acid face pads to keep your pores clear.

We recommend: