Aging starts from the day you are born. No joke. You start to age the minute you’re born. All the cells in your body are in the best condition they’ll ever be when you’re born. From thereon, it’s a gradual decline in cell function, and later a rapid decline. We age because our organs age and eventually break down. Like any machine, nothing stays new forever.

This is especially true for skin. Skin is the largest organ of our body and serves as the first point of defense against our external environment. It takes a huge beating from the sun and other external insults.

The sun is responsible for a whopping 85% of the aging you see on your face as you get older —wrinkles, sagging, spots, and more. All of that is thanks to sun damage.

You can’t stop your body from naturally aging. But you can control how much sun damage you get. Wearing sunscreen is such a simple yet effective way to slow aging.

Protecting your skin is the most important thing you can do for your skin. If you do nothing else, at the very minimum, protect it from the sun. Wear a sunscreen whenever you’re outside. (In fact, you actually need to wear it everyday, not just when it’s sunny.) Protection is the best investment you can make for your skin.