Sunscreen Review - Getting It Right
You know the importance of wearing sunscreen. Sun exposure is the leading cause of skin cancer as well as the number one cause of pre-mature aging. Sun exposure is cumulative and irreversible. With over 800 products on the market today, deciding which product to use can be confusing and overwhelming. This is especially true since recent studies have found that nearly 84% of all sunscreen products offer inadequate protection or contain ingredients with safety concerns.
SPF: You may think that if a product has a high SPF, you are being protected from the sun. WRONG! An SPF rating only rates the effectiveness of UVB rays. UVA rays are real major cause of skin cancer and aging skin.
Broad Spectrum: There isn’t a rating to determine how well your product is protecting you from UVA rays. The FDA has allowed companies to write the words “full spectrum” and “broad spectrum” on the label to show that the protection extends to cover protection from UVA rays.
Physical or Chemical: There are only two ways sunscreen can provide sun protection: chemical sun protection or physical sun protection. Chemical sun protection uses chemicals as their active ingredients, when applied and absorbed into the skin, allow the UV rays to absorb into the skin. They are only effective once the product is absorbed into the skin, so the importance of applying BEFORE you go out into the sun is important. If you apply it when you are already outside, you have been basically unprotected for 20 minutes. And since the chemicals act to absorb UV rays, their effectiveness gets “used up”, so it is very important to continually reapply.
Physical sun protection uses ingredients that on top of your skin and provide a barrier to the skin that deflect UV rays. They provide protection at the moment you apply them. Physical sun protection will not clog pores, or irritate the skin, and therefore is safe for use on all skin types including sensitive skin, including toddlers and children. And since the ingredients do not get “used up” it is longer lasting than chemical sun protection.
Active Ingredients: Looking at the active ingredients will let you know if you are getting protection from both UVB and UVB rays, and if your sunscreen is providing you chemical or physical sun protection.
Since Chemical active ingredients are absorbed into the skin they can cause irritation or allergic reactions. These ingredients are known to be comedogenic, which means they can cause or increase acne, blemishes and black heads. It is important to mention that most of these ingredients have not had adequate testing on the safety and long term affects of using these products. Chemical ingredients that provide UVA protection are Parsol 1780 (avobenzone), benzophenones (oxybenzone), cinnamates (octylmethyl cinnamate and cinoxate), sulisobenzone, salicylates, escamsule (MesorylSX).
Physical active ingredients lay on top of the skin making allergic reactions or skin irritation impossible. There only two physical ingredients that offer full UVA and UVB protection: Titanium Dioxide, Zinc Oxide.
Warning: Many sunscreen brands will list zinc oxide and titanium dioxide on their label, but unless they are the ONLY active ingredients, they are really chemical sunscreens.
By understanding and reading the label on any sunscreen product you can now quickly wade through hundreds products to choose the best possible sunscreen product for you.
Nancy Wells is a professional product scout, traveling throughout the US and abroad in search of extraordinary beauty and wellness products for men and women that improve their life by delivering real solutions. Nancy Wells is an owner/operator of spas both in the US and internationally. She actively consults new and existing medical, day, hotel, and resort spas on all phases of their spa business. She is the President of Mineral Makeup USA. http://www.MineralMakeupUSA.com
Tags: best sun bloc, best sun protection, best sunblock, best sunscreen, powder sunscreen, sunscreen powde