IS MY PHONE LIGHT MAKING ME OLDER?

Lol, perhaps.

Hi Guys, Welcome to my You Tube Channel (I’m really just practicing for when I have a channel, if I have a channel – I’m very camera shy)

It’s been two 2 weeks since my last article, I have been so swamped with work, it’s draining. Hopefully, I’ll be free next week so I can read and write more.

So enough about me, how are you?
(Feel free to let me in on your life’s secrets in the comment section or on Twitter) 😌

This article is just an excerpt from a study I am carrying out – which I put on hold for a while – it’s about the effect of High Energy Visible Light (H.E.V.L.) on the skin. It involves conducting surveys to see if people understand the effect of light particles on their skin and exposing live skin cells to H.E.V.L around a particular band of wavelength over a stipulated period of time also taking into cognizance the role of genetics in this equation; this would of course take a longer period of time to find out results to determine if H.E.V.L. actually has any effect on your skin.

Let’s cut the science talk out. (I’m sorry, I might not be able to help it)

H.E.V.L. might sound like a really big sciencey word to you, or not but it’s just plain old blue light you see everywhere around you.
It’s amazing when we see all the colors of the rainbow and we are fascinated, neglecting the bigger picture – how these colors evolve from white light (Sunlight) and its place in the electromagnetic spectrum.
White Light emanating from Sunlight isn’t as basic as it sounds, it consists of electromagnetic particles at various wavelengths which emit energy in form of light, heat and whatever energy we are yet to discover. Wavelength is inversely proportional to energy, this means that the shorter the wavelength, the higher the energy the particle would emit. Wavelength is measured in nanometers (nm), with 1 nanometer equaling 1 billionth of a meter.

I’m pretty sure we’ve heard of microwaves, right?🙃 Not the type you heat your pizza with, even though that’s where the energy comes from, hence the name.
Apart from microwaves we have gamma rays, x-rays, ultraviolet (UV) rays, visible light, infrared light, and radio waves. All these wavelengths combined form what we know as the electromagnetic spectrum.
Although all these particles are characterized by color, the visible light section is the only one humans can see. The colors of the rainbow are a perfect example of the visible light spectrum; white light dispersed into its component red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet it has wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometers (nm) with Violet being the lowest wavelength and as we mentioned earlier, emits a higher amount of energy.

PS: the ultraviolet ray zone is just immediately after violet on the electromagnetic spectrum, Ultra is the Latin word for “Beyond” so ultraviolet actually means beyond violet.
Guess you didn’t know about that.

By now we should all be aware of the damage UV radiation has on the skin and as if that isn’t bad enough, rumor has it that H.E.V.L. also known as blue light can also cause visible damage on the skin. Its primary source is from the sun, but it’s also emitted by your smartphone, tablet, computer screen, florescent light bulbs and LEDs which means it’s everywhere around you especially in this digital age; Statistics show that millennials check their smartphones 157 times per day which would expose them to a ton of radiation daily. There are studies of how this affects the eyes and the body’s sleep and wake cycle known as the Circadian rhythm – We are here for the skin part though.
The rumor going around is that the wavelength of H.E.V.L. particles is close to that of Ultraviolet rays and this would at point cause them potentially as harmful as their ultraviolent neighbors next door on the spectrum. This is definitely something to consider because HEV light emitting from the sun and your electronic devices ranges from 380nm to 500nm, which is a bit longer than, but overlaps with, the range of UVA light. Interestingly, the range of blue light differs with each research, with majority of scientists putting it more strongly in the range of 400-450nm as regards its damage to skin.
With this news, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that prolonged exposure to blue light from the sun, your gadgets, LEDs … would cause a similar damage as exposure to UV rays from the sun. My guess is that prolonged exposure to blue light could be linked to photoaging to some extent. It’s hard to know from just carrying out regular surveys because a lot of factors contribute to the skin’s aging process. It would take a very meticulous person to know if for sure if the light emitted from their gadgets could also be blamed for their skin aging.
Unlike UV rays which you can run away from at night time, blue light will stalk you all the way and I doubt you want to wear sunscreen to bed while you’re scrolling through Twitter.
I don’t know the best way to end this article because for one, I do not have a solution for this at this point in time, I mean I have Ideas which are dependent on the results of this study, but I do not have a solution in present time.
You can avoid prolonged exposure by turning on your night light on your device, switching to yellow lights as opposed to blue and minimize your stay in the sun.
I understand I put blue light in a very bad light, but it also has some good sides to it, routine exposure to blue light, preferably from daylight, helps regulate our body’s sleep-wake cycle, improves our mood, keeps us alert and some studies even show how blue light can also enhance memory.
So, stay away from blue light but don’t staaaaay away from blue light, you get?
You can let me know what next you want me to talk about in my next article, I’ll love to hear from you.

Love x Light (LOL Nigerians can’t even relate to this😭)

Your friendly neighborhood Cosmetic Chemist,
Mae