In Australia, sunscreens are divided into 2 categories:
therapeutic sunscreens
cosmetic sunscreens
Therapeutic Sunscreens are regulated by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). These include:
primary sunscreens –products used primarily for protection from UV radiation that have a rated sun protection factor (SPF) of 4 or more.
some secondary sunscreens –such as moisturisers that contain sunscreen with an SPF greater than 15.
Cosmetic sunscreens are secondary sunscreens, which are advertised as having a primary purpose other than sun protection such as a moisturiser. These include products such as:
Moisturisers with SPF 15 or less (in pack sizes of 300mL/300g or less);
Sunbathing skin care products (e.g. oils, creams, gels, sunless tanning products and after-sun care products) with SPF 15 or less (in pack sizes of 300mL/300g or less);
Lip products with SPF; and
Tinted bases and foundations (e.g. liquids, pastes or powders) with SPF.
Therapeutic sunscreens need to be approved by the TGA whereas cosmetic sunscreens do not.
Irrespective of weather your brand has a therapeutic or cosmetic sunscreen you can’t make any claims about sun protection or claim a specific SPF if you don’t have specific evidence to support your claims. To claim a SPF you need to send the product for SPF testing in accordance with the Australian Standard on sunscreens. It is the responsibility of the brand owner to ensure you have evidence before making any claims.
Some smaller cosmetic brands who do not want to pay for SPF testing sell secondary sunscreens without making any SPF or sun protection claims. They tend to market these products as protection, a shield or a guard against the environment.
Now with the regulatory issues out of the way the next issue is what ingredients are best to use in a sunscreen. There is a lot of misinformation out there claiming that the physical sunscreens – zinc oxide and titanium dioxide - are the safest and the best and chemical sunscreens are all bad!
This simply is not true!
It is well known that Zinc oxide and titanium dioxide are photocatalysts, meaning that they can form free radicals when they come into contact with sunlight. One of our concerns with the application of either of these ingredients in sunscreens is their potential to photogenerate free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS) when they absorb ultraviolet wavelengths from sunlight. Free radicals and ROS are known to be associated with UV-induced skin damage and oxidative stress, from which sunscreens are expected to offer significant protection.
In addition although they offer broad spectrum sun protection, meaning it protects from both UV-A and UV-B light with zinc oxide offering greater protection in the UV-A range and titanium dioxide in the UV-B range, they do not offer strong protection and so require high concentrations to give higher SPF protection and for this reason they are often combined with other chemical sunscreens to provide stronger protection. Even many so called “100% mineral” sunscreens often contain hidden chemical sunscreens or sunscreen boosters such as Butyloctyl salicylate which is almost identical to octisalate, a common chemical sunscreen, in both form and function. Sunscreen companies boost the SPF of their mineral sunscreens with this ingredient while still claiming to be a 100% mineral sunscreen. The second hidden chemical filter in "all mineral" sunscreens is Polysilicone-15. In Europe this is known as the UVB filter Parsol SLX.
Mineral sunscreens also have a thick texture whereas chemical sunscreens can be formulated to be a lot lighter with better skin feel. Mineral sunscreens can also cause white casting even if using nano sized particles which certainly helps reduce it but it can still occur especially on darker skin.
When it comes to chemical sunscreens there are also a few that we chose to avoid. There are a few old generation chemical sunscreens that are proven or suspected hormone disruptors, easily absorbs into the body, chemically unstable, causes skin irritation, and/or form free radicals, all of which we would not use in our products. Some of these include:
Oxybenzone
Avobenzone
Octisalate
Homosalate
Octocrylene
Octinoxate
There are however certain new generation chemical sunscreens that we would use when formulating our sunscreen products. These ones do not absorb through the skin, are not hormone disruptors, do not form free radials and are chemically stable. They also provide a lighter more elegant skin feel. These include:
bis-ethylhexyloxyphenol methoxyphenyl triazine (Bemotrizinol) – Broad Spectrum
diethylamino hydroxybenzoyl hexyl benzoate (DHHB, Uvinul A Plus) – UV-A
tris-biphenyl triazine (Tinosorb A2B) – UV-B and UV-A II.
methylene bis-benzotriazolyl tetramethylbutylphenol (Tinosorb M, Bisoctrizole) – Broad spectrum
ethylhexyl triazone (Uvinul T 150, Octyltriazone) - UV-B
The first secondary cosmetic sunscreen supplied by PLC is formulated with Bemotrizinol, one of our favorite broad spectrum (UV-A and UV-B) chemical sunscreens. It is not free radical forming, not a hormone disruptor, does not absorb into the body, has little risk of irritation and also has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity. It is combined with DHHB, a very stable and effective UV-A filter that does not absorb into the body and unlikely to cause any irritation. The cream provides a elegant skin feel and suitable for those who do not like wearing heavy sunscreens. It is designed for everyday use while out and about to protect from damaging UV rays. It is not designed as a sunscreen to wear while at the beach or spending hours in the sun. For this purpose we recommend using a SPF 30 or above therapeutic sunscreen while also wearing a hat to protect your face and using common sense not to over do it in the sun. Our sunscreen is in stability testing and coming soon!
Comments