Style Bomb knows what to wear to the beach, and not just when it comes to suits and flip flops. Don’t forget to check out Vivesana at White’s in East Hampton on your way out…

Thanks to Marie Claire for recognizing you don’t always have to give up look and feel with a natural sunscreen. Live Healthy!

And, for those who like to actually read the words, “Pick a pure sunblock. I have searched everywhere for a clean, synthetic-free, non-greasy sunscreen. Vivesana SPF 40 is great because it doesn’t leave a white finish and won’t make me break out – and as a bonus, it leaves a beautiful finish. Vivesana Solar to Polar Ultra moisturizing sun care for face and body, $29, spiritbeautylounge.com”. Thanks guys.

What do the Studio and the Takoma Park Co-op have in common? They don’t share a style or a coast, but they do share an overarching, all-consuming drive to carry the best quality products they can find. As it happens, they also began carrying Vivesana yesterday afternoon. We’re thrilled to be working with both of them, and love what the variety of approach says about Vivesana – stores from across the spectrum meet when it comes to strong, safe, stylish and effective sun care. Hurray!

Vivesana announces its newest retail partner, the Hippocrates Health Institute of West Palm Beach.

Standing apart as one of the most prominent wellness centers in the country, the Institute embodies many of ideals Vivesana strives to meet. Live Healthy!

We encourage all to give what they can to help. For our part, Vivesana will donate at least 50% of online sales to Haiti relief via Doctors without Borders from January 14-20.

Basking in Sunny Praise: Where to Begin?

We’re blushing.  We’ve received scores – possibly hundreds – of reviews those with the most discerning eyes of all – the bloggers.

Here are just a few notable examples of the blogs and websites that have given their thoughts.

We’ll keep posting the reviews as we find ‘em.  Click on any of the links below to see what the experts have to say…

Ideal Bite, The Style Page, Livestrong, Beauty News NYC, The Greenists, Babble, Baby Gadget, Mamaista, Cool Mom Picks, Treehugger, Quiskaeya, Mogul Baby, Nonchalant Mom, Totsnob, Smorgasbite, Beauty Snob, Re-Nest, DKmommyspot, Green Blog, Sustainability Digest, This Full House, Green Goddess Dressing, FindBuzz.com

It’s a handy little mnemonic, but there’s a lot more to it. In the spectrum of light waves, visible light is longer than UV light. Generally, the shorter the wave, the more energy it has…and the more trouble it has penetrating the atmosphere, or for that matter, skin. UVA waves are the longest type of UV light, and just shorter than visible light. Almost all UV light is in the UVA range. UVB rays come next. They’re stronger but less penetrating: indeed, the vast majority of UVB light gets trapped in the outer atmosphere. Thanks to ozone depletion, of course, a lot more gets through than in the past. UVC light is by far the strongest, most dangerous and shortest wavelength. Fortunately, it generally can’t get through the outer atmosphere.

So what do they do to our skin? UVA penetrates deeper into the skin than UVB light but doesn’t fry the surface like UVB light. Although less potent, UVA is more dangerous than UVB light in some respects. Its effects are not immediately visible and many sunscreens don’t do a good job of blocking it (the FDA has no labeling requirements in place to illustrate the degree of UVA protection…all those sunscreens that purport to offer UVA protection don’t have to give specifics). It’s like drinking spiked punch – without even realizing what’s happening, you can get yourself in trouble. UVA degrades elastin and collagen – the stuff that holds skin together and gives its pliability and smoothness. UVA light makes skin sag and wrinkle. Newer studies are also showing that it can cause skin cancer and degrade the skin’s barrier function. It deoxidizes corneocytes and impairs peptide functioning. It degrades corneodesmones, which compromises skin integrity, and can even affect our immune systems. Hopefully, the FDA’s proposals to establish a UVA metric will eventually take effect. Until then, tread carefully. Take a look at the EPA’s list of strong UVA blocks. And then take a look at Sana’s ingredients!

UVB light, on the other hand, wreaks more immediate damage at the skin’s surface but does not penetrate to the deeper levels (although it has its benefits, too). Since SPF is tied to UVB light, and because UVB leaves direct evidence on the skin, most sunscreens block UVB light.

One other tip – just like a marshmallow, don’t get too close to the flame! Your skin produces melanin in response to UVB light, but it takes several hours for the process to effectively kick in. Melanin is what makes you tan and helps protect you from UV rays and sunburn. So, if you’re going somewhere sunny, be especially careful the first day!

It makes intuitive sense to any kid, but don’t be too quick to chuckle…it’s actually true. Many people assume sun power on the slopes is a result of sun reflecting off of the snow (up to 90% of rays are reflected). That’s a big part of it, but altitude is a factor as well.

radiation increases by 17-22% with every 1,000 meters of elevation. UVA increases by 11%. Why? It’s less a question of pure distance to the sun, than of distance within the Earth’s atmosphere. Different types of light have differing capacities to penetrate air (and our skin). UVB is powerful, but not terribly good at penetrating air or skin.…which is why its strength increases the closer you get to the source. UVA is less strong, but more penetrating, so must of it gets through to sea level…getting closer to the sun less dramatically increases UVA impact. See, you can learn from your kids…and don’t forget the sunscreen!

Sun Protection Factor is simply an equation for measuring what percentage of UVB (not UVA) rays will be blocked. The equation is (SPF-1)/SPF = “Percent UVB Blocked”.

So…SPF 53 blocks 98% of the sun’s rays (52/53 = 98.1%).

Where does that leave us? Well to figure out how long you can stay in the sun, you need to figure out how strong the sun is (look at the UV Index) and how sensitive your skin is. Here’s how it works: take the time it takes your skin to get pink without protection, and multiply that number by the SPF. If it takes 10 minutes, then an SPF of 53 will keep you from getting pink for 530 minutes, or a nearly 9 hours – if it stays on your skin completely the entire time.

Not sure how helpful that is. Who wants to go out and see how long it takes to burn (since that involves letting yourself burn)? And there are a bunch of problems with the equation. First, the strength of the sun changes all day long. Second, in order to get full SPF protection, the sunscreen has to be applied in sufficient amount and works only if it doesn’t wash or rub off (a huge “if” for many sunscreens). Third, SPF only relates to UVB rays and burning…UVA may be causing real harm without your sunscreen lifting a finger to help and without you even knowing it.

For all of these reasons, and others, the CDC recommends erring on the side of caution. SPF isn’t meaningless, of course. The FDA and EPA recommend using an SPF of at least 15. We agree. We,and others, think you should also use a sunscreen that blocks UVA light and stays put when you don’t. And given recent research on common synthetic sunscreen agents, keeping it natural is a good thing, too! Did we mention Sana’s sunscreens have the highest natural SPF on the market, full UVA protection, the highest level of water resistance, and no synthetic ingredients at all? That’s what we call erring on the side of caution!