In 2019, I reviewed six Lotus Herbals products. (Here are the links: SPF 20, SPF 30, SPF 40, SPF 50, SPF 100, and Kid’s SPF 25). I am surprised at two things: first, how did the SPF 70 escape my attention, and secondly, Lotus Herbals tenacity in making multiple SPF sunscreens. It’s an innovative way of covering the market.
It does not surprise me that both SPF 50 and SPF 70 appear on Nykaa’s best-seller list because they are so cheap. The product is available for sale at Nykaa (click LINK) at INR 595 for 60 gm.
Sunscreen test
Harmful chemical present
This product contains the harmful chemical Oxybenzone. I am not a fan of this ingredient, as its a hormonal disruptor and a known skin allergen. If you’d like more details on the deleterious effects of Oxybenzone, please read my blog, Chemicals to Avoid – Oxybenzone)
Even if you are fine with this product containing Oxybenzone, you really should not waste your money on it. Here is why
What damages should sunscreen be trying to protect against?
We want these products to contain photostable UVA and UVB filters that protect against these damages.
(see What damage is sunscreen trying to prevent? for further details)
UVA and UVB filters present are:
UVB filter: Octinoxate (2nd ingredient)
UVA filter: Avobenzone (3rd ingredient)
UVA/UVB filter: Oxybenzone (4th ingredient) and Titanium Dioxide (6th ingredient)
This product has sufficient UVB filters to be SPF 70. But how great is its protection against UVA?
Is this really a PA+++ rated product?
No. PA+++ rating indicates that this product provides very effective protection against UVA. This does not and here is why:
Avobenzone is a gold standard UVA filter but it is viciously unstable. It must be stabilized and this product achieves this by having Oxybenzone. However it is sunscreen formulation 101 that Octinoxate will make the formulation and Avobenzone unstable.
The problem with this sunscreen is that the Avobenzone is not sufficiently stabilised and therefore, it provides ineffective protection against UVA.
How bad is the lack of stability? Well, this study indicates that only 25% of Avobenzone remains: in 2008, 14 commercially available sunscreens were applied to microscope slides and exposed to natural sunlight. The results were replicated in 3 different labs and therefore the results are reliable.
The sunscreens that contained a mixture of Avobenzone, Octinoxate and Oxybenzone, were measured for % of UV filters that remain after application of UV radiation:
- Oxybenzone 100% recovered,
- Avobenzone 25% recovered and
- Octinoxate 41% recovered.
And for the avoidance of doubt, the Titanium Dioxide cannot make this product a PA+++ rated sunscreen.
Closing
All the other ingredients in this sunscreen are great except the ones that really count: the filters. Just pass on this sunscreen which I appreciate is difficult to do because of the price, but ask yourself after all I have told you about the product’s instability what are you buying?
Drop me a line at email@happyskindays.com if you have any comments or questions. I’d love to hear from you.
Notes: Reference to study above
SaNogueira J, Lott DL (2007) Letter to FDA with comments to proposed sunscreen monograph. http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=FDA-1978-N-0018-0652 and SaNogueira J, Lott DL (2008) Letter to FDA with supplement to comments to proposed sunscreen monograph. http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=FDA-1978-N-0018-0653
The full ingredient list is available at: LINK
See also