I do not know how this sunscreen escaped my attention, but not to worry, it did not escape yours, as it is the no 1 sunscreen on Amazon UK.
One of the founders, Dr. Andrew Birnie, is a real-life consultant dermatologist and cancer surgeon. The marketing blurb is, “(we) set out with a vision: to reduce the incidence of skin cancer by enabling more people to use more sunscreen.”
According to the Cancer Atlas (yes that is a thing), the most common human cancers are skin cancers (basal cell and cutaneous squamous cells). You and I both know, the primary cause of skin cancers is UVA and UVB radiation.
I find it restores my faith in humanity, when a private company is founded on the basis of addressing of very real public health issue, and then becomes the no 1 bestselling sunscreen on Amazon UK.
Of course, the price has to do something with it. Each tube 10p is donated to charity and some simple maths tells me that’s about 1 million units at an average price of GBP 4.50
For a brand that started less than 5 yrs ago this is truly impressive. Let’s find out what’s special about the product.
Happy Skin Days sunscreen test
The product is more than an SPF 30, has no harmful chemicals that I look for (BHT, parabens and Oxybenzone).
This only leaves the UVA filters and the UVB filters to consider.
Harmful effects of UVA and UVB
Both UVA and UVB have been definitively linked to photoaging and skin cancer. Its vital that sunscreens contain “UV filters” that protect our skin by absorbing, reflecting or scattering UVA and UVB rays.
The harmful effects of over-exposure to UVA and UVB are:
The sunscreen’s UVA and UVB filters
This is a product that has 8 filters, being:
- Octocrylene (4th listed ingredient)
- Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane (“Avobenzone”) (5th ingredient)
- Ethylhexyl Salicylate (“Octisalate”) (8th ingredient)
- Titanium Dioxide (nano) (10th ingredient)
- Phenylbenzimidazole Sulfonic Acid (“PSA”) (11th ingredient)
- Tris-Biphenyl Triazine (nano) (“Tinsorb A2B”) (13th ingredient)
- Ethylhexyl Triazone (“Uvinul T”) (14th ingredient)
- Bis-Ethylhexyloxyphenol Methoxyphenyl Triazine (“BEMT”) (15th ingredient)
It easier to show the complete coverage across the UVB and UVA spectrum afforded by this product.
It’s a very belt and braces approach to providing a lot of protection against both UVA and UVB.
Some geeky detailed…
One of my main reasons for rejecting so many sunscreens, especially Made in India sunscreens, is the complete failure of products to stabilise the UVA filter, Avobenzone. I have no such concern about the photostability of this product. Avobenzone is being stabilised by Octocrylene and as far as I can tell, there is no ingredient making it more unstable.
I will also mention Tinsorb A2B here. I have looked at hundreds of sunscreens now and I think this is the first time I have seen Tinsorb A2B. It was approved for use in the EU in 2014, which is no mean feat! It provides superior coverage in UVA II region, which tends to not be specifically addressed by manufacturers because of the narrow bandwidth (320nm-340nm)
(14 October 2020 update)
Altruist went and had their PPD tested – PPD is essentially a measure of the protection the sunscreen offers against UVA. (See what is PPA+++? for more information). They published this photograph on their social media account:
Source: Altruist social media. Accompanying text says You asked us for PPD values, so we measured them*. PPD is a method of measuring sunburn protection, originally developed in Japan. ‘Persistent pigment darkening’ (PPD) measures UVA protection, similar to the SPF measurement. As Altruist Sunscreen grows and helps to protect more people across the world, it’s important that everyone understands the level of protection they can expect from the Altruist SPF range. *These Altruist PPD values apply to our cream and fluid formulations only, not the sunspray
Closing
I am frequently asked to recommend cheap but effective sunscreens. Even if you live outside the UK and have to import this into your country via Shop & Ship, this sunscreen is still cheap as chips. Importantly, it is effective. The 100 ml tube is available for sale on Amazon UK at £4. This is US$ 5 or INR 375.
My comment section now works
I am severely technically challenged. Therefore, my comment section has not been working for the best part of the past 12 months. Please leave a comment on your favourite sunscreen or any other skincare topic! I’d love to hear from you!
Copyright
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