PHOENIX — With no shortage of sunshine recently, the rain is a welcome sight.
The change in humidity followed by more forecasted dry temperatures means Arizona can be one of the toughest places to live for your skin.
Arizona gets an estimated 300 days of sunshine on average in a calendar year. That much sun can do a number on your body's biggest organ – your skin.
On Monday, it was noticeably cooler than the historic heat we’ve seen lately, but it still wasn’t sweater weather for Tyler, who we met on Mill Avenue in Tempe.
“I’m trying to get rid of it because it’s so dang hot out here,” he said outside of a resale spot.
As a Grand Canyon University student, he was looking to make a few bucks from his bomber jacket.
”My lips and face are usually dry like all the time here, especially since it’s humid and the rain lat night and stuff. I feel a little bit more moisturized,” said Tyler.
We took our heat and humidity skin care questions to dermatologist Dr. Karan Lal.
He’s one of the only double board-certified pediatric and cosmetic dermatologists in the country, which has led to thousands of followers on Instagram and clients that include A-list celebrities from coast to coast.
When asked if our state was one of the worst places to live for your skin, Dr. Lal said, “It’s probably the worst place to live for fair skin and a family history of skin cancer.”
The much-needed rain parts of the Valley saw Sunday along with the forecasted rain for Monday put our humidity above average.
Dr. Lal says the added dew points can help prevent eczema but can also lead to acne because of trapped pollutants in the air that causes breakouts.
”The humidity and the breeze we have is better for our skin than we normally have,” he said while adding temperatures above 95º isn’t doing our skins any favors.
When it’s normally hot and dry in our summer months, skin mirrors that dryness.
Dr. Lal suggests a daily sunscreen, a minimum of SPF 30. One with vitamin C, can hold added benefits.
”When it’s humid and there [are] pollutants in the air, you have a lot of free radical damage on your skin which exposes us to fine line, aging, redness, brown spots, so having a sunscreen with vitamin C which is a potent antioxidant which can help free radicals from damaging your skin," he said.
After reporting in the Valley of the sun, Dr. Lal noticed how quickly it can do damage on the face of a neighborhood reporter by pointing out sunspots and redness, which is irreplaceable damage.
If we’re in for another hot dry month… he suggests limiting sun exposure to the early morning and reapplying sunscreen, every two hours when outdoors.
