I have a soft spot for Avene as I have been using the brand for many years and I absolutely love the fact that it produces good products.
Therefore, it is with tremendous disappointment that I read this product contained BHT.
In keeping with the policy of my blog, I cannot suggest you use products that contain BHT.
BHT is a cheap preservative and, “limited evidence suggests that high doses of BHT may mimic estrogen, the primary female sex hormone and prevent the expression of male sex hormones, resulting in adverse reproductive effects.” (Source: David Suzuki)
However, it is your body and health and if you are perfectly fine using harmful chemicals in the name of sunscreen, then this is an excellent product.
Its priced at INR 1,450 for 40 ml (as at 30 April 2020) on Nykaa.
Here is the more detailed review of this product:
What damages are we trying to protect against when we use sunscreen?
Filters should protect against the deleterious effects of both UVA and UVB radiation:
What filters are present?
The ingredient list is available at Avene’s wesbsite and per this list the filters are:
- UVB Filter: Octinoxate (2nd ingredient) and Octocrylene (3rd ingredient)
- UVA filter: Bis-Ethylhexyloxyphenol Methoxyphenyl Triazine (“BEMT”) (4th ingredient)
Given the quantities of the filters in this product, there is no doubt that this is an SPF 30 product that gives PA+++ protection.
Here is a quick note on BEMT, which is less commonly available in Made in India sunscreens:
BEMT is an excellent broadspectrum filter and has the following characteristics.
- BEMT provides superior UVB as well as UVA protection. The UVAI protection it offers begins to taper off at about 360nm, indicating it provides inferior protection to Avobenzone. Nevertheless, it’s still an excellent UVA filter.
- The filter is very photostable, so does not immediately start to breakdown as soon as the product comes out of the tube
- BEMT has a large molecular weight (629 Dalton) meaning it won’t be absorbed into the skin.
Finally, it does not have to be present in large quantities to give significant UVA protection. Even 1.7% BEMT without any other ingredients, provides PA++ rating, which is much more than the PA protection offered by many Indian sunscreens.
As BEMT is the 4th ingredient on this product, it is safe to assume that the product has at least 2% BEMT…
See also