Happy Skin Day’s sunscreen test
This is a product that one of my reader’s wanted me to review. Thank you for highlighting this product and sending the ingredients list!
Source: Happy Skin Days, Copyright Asserted Qs 1 & 2) No harmful chemicals are present on the Ingredient label and the product is an SPF 30
Q3) Does the product contain UVA and UVB filters?
Its vital that sunscreens contain “UV filters” that protect our skin by absorbing, reflecting or scattering UVA and UVB rays, as both rays have been definitively linked to photoaging and skin cancer.
The harmful effects of over-exposure to UVA and UVB are:
Source: Happy Skin Days, Copyright AssertedThe products filters are:
- Titanium Dioxide: a broadspectrum filter providing protection against UVA and UVB radiation. Its also the 4th listed ingredient, indicating sufficient quantities of this ingredient. However, Titanium Dioxide is used in sunscreens because it is a better UVB filter.
- Parsol MCX (trade name for Octinoxate): a UVB filter
- Avobenzone: a superior UVA filter
- Octocrylene: a UVB filter
- Bemotrizinol: a superior new style UVA filter
I am very pleased to see a bunch of UVB AND UVA filters present in a “Made in India” sunscreen. However, that is the extent of my praise for this product.
Other reasons NOT to buy this product….
Product contains SPF boosters
Butloctyl Salicylate (3rd ingredient on label) and Polyhydroxystearic Acid are both present in this product. These ingredients are SPF boosters, whose function is to increase the SPF of the product so that manufacturers can use less UV filter. It helps to keep costs down for manufacturers. Naturally, I am not a fan of products containing SPF boosters
The combination of UVA filters is unstable
The primary UVA filter is Avobenzone, which is notoriously photounstable. Evidence shows Avobenzone degrades quickly upon exposure to sunlight, reducing its efficacy by as much as 50 and 90 per cent after 60 minutes of exposure.
This product does something very odd. It contains Octocrylene that stabilise Avobenzone. But it also contains Parsol MCX (or Octinoxate) and Titanium Dioxide that make Avobenzone less photostable. (Click on LINK for more information).
It would be remiss of me if I didn’t mention the product contains Bemotrizinol – BEMT, a superior new style UVA filter that is extremely photostable. In the absence of the actual percentage of BEMT, its difficult to commit to the extent of UVA protection offered by it
….I am sceptical of the PA+++ rating of this product
To remind you, PA+++ rating indicates the product is “very effective against UVA” (see What is PA?)
Source: JCIAGiven the instability of the Avobenzone in this product and the question marks around the quantity of Bemotrizinol present, its unlikely that this product provides PA+++ protection.
Conclusion
It really is great to see a Made in India sunscreen use Bemotrizinol, but alas, this product is not for me because of the questionable UVA protection offered by it.
See Top 5 sunscreen recommendations: October 2019: sunscreens on my shelf; What is PA?