My view: Give it a miss
Retail price: INR 515 for 30ml
Ingredients*
Water, Ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate, Drometrizoletrisiloxane, Glycerin, Propylene Glycol, Dimethicone, Titanium Dioxide, Terephthalylidene dicamphor Sulfonic Acid, Diethylamino hydroxybenzoyl hexyl Benzoate, Triethanolamine, Bis-ethylhexyloxyphenol methoxyphenyl triazine, Stearic Acid, Titanium Dioxide (CI77891), Potassium Cetyl Phosphate, CI 77491, CI77492, CI77499/ Iron oxides, Ascorbyl Glucoside, Tocopherol, Sodium Cocoyl Sarcosinate, Sodium Citrate, Phenoxyethanol, PEG-100 Stearate, Ethylparaben, Palmitic Acid, Limonene, Mannitol, Xanthan Gum, Linalool, Benzyl Alcohol, Tromethamine, Caprylyl Glycol, Carbomer, Geraniol, Disodium EDTA, Cetyl Alcohol, Methylparaben, Butylene glycol, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Butyrospermum parkii seedcake extract/shea butter seedcake extract, Vitreoscilla ferment, Citronellol, Aluminium Hydroxide, Hexyl Cinnamal, Glyceryl Stearate, Parfum/Fragrance (FIL C163889/1) (*Ingredients are listed in descending order of quantity)
Filters
“Filters” protect against damage caused by UV radiation. UVA rays penetrate our skin deeper and cause breakdown of collagen in our skin. Collagen is what gives skin its structure and resilience. Therefore, UVA causes longer-term structural damage to our skin.
UVA filters protect against the damage caused by UVA radiation, which in a nutshell is photo-damage (wrinkles, hyper-pigmentation and loss of skin elasticity). UVB filters protect mainly against UVB radiation, namely reddening of the skin (erythema), sunburn and skin-cancer. UVB/UVA filters combine the function of UVA and UVB filters.
- UVA filters:
- Bis-ethylhexyloxyphenol methoxyphenyl triazine (common name – Bemotrizinol)
- Terephthalylidene dicamphor Sulfonic Acid (common name – Ecamsule)
- Diethylamino hydroxybenzoyl hexyl Benzoate (DHHB)
- UVB filters: Ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate (common name – Octinoxate) (2nd ingredient)
- UVA/UVB filters: Titanium Dioxide (7th ingredient)
My thoughts
Let’s be clear. This product without doubt offers superior UVA protection because of the mix of its UVA filters. In fact, as UVA penetrates your skin deeper and causes more longer-term structural damage to the skin – UVA filters are always what we are looking for.
ALAS, it also has parabens. If L’Oreal can spend a bunch of money developing this great formulation, it can spend a fraction finding alternatives to parabens. There is no excuse….
For the more technically inclined, please keep reading and for the rest of you, ciao!
See also: Top 5 sunscreen recommendations, Do You Understand The Gibberish On Sunscreen Labels? Myths About Sun-Protection
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Technical reason for giving this product a miss.
This product contains Ethylparaben and Methylparaben.
Parabens are cheap and effective preservatives that manufacturers love. The problem with parabens is that they are endocrine system disruptors – they act as estrogen mimickers and in a study in the USA, traces of parabens were found in most urine samples of both genders, irrespective of ethnicity. Parabens are easily absorbed into the skin, so if your face products (toner, serum, cream, sun-protection), soap(s), body lotion and parfum all contain parabens, then that’s multiple applications per day. Also, as you constantly reapply sunscreen throughout the day, you are also repeatedly applying parabens.
For the above reason, you should avoid paraben containing products. Also, there are a sufficient products that DON’T contain parabens (see Top Sunscreen Recommendations). For more on parabens see Chemicals to Avoid – Parabens.
Product label details: Batch No: B-80R503, Mfd: 26-05-18, Use Before: 25-05-21, Imported. Registration Certificate no published on label.