This sunscreen is listed as the 2nd featured product when I filter by “Popularity” on Nykaa’s sunscreen page.
Happy Skin Days’ sunscreen test
1) Harmful chemicals present?
The ingredient label shows this product contains BHT, a preservative. It is the policy of this blog to avoid products containing BHT.
David Suzuki’s excellent explanation is, “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 affects.”
If you are OK with BHT, then keep reading.
2) Is the sunscreen SPF 30? (3) Does it contain UVA and UVB filters?
This is an SPF 30 product. Both UVA and UVB have been implicated in ski-cancer and photo-aging. UVA and UVB filter should protect against these damages:
The UVA and UVB filter quandry that the sunscreen solves!
This product has the following UVB and UVA filters:
UVB filters: Octinoxate (2nd ingredient) and Octocrylene (8th ingredient)
UVA filters: Avobenzone (4th ingredient) and BEMT (7th ingredient)
The product has sufficient UVB filters.
The primary UVA filter is Avobenzone, a gold standard UVA filter that is horrendously photounstable. The US FDA on Avobenzone says, “Avobenzone’s efficacy decreases by 50% – 90% after 60 minutes of exposure to sunlight.” In essence, the one job that Avobenzone is so good at – UVA absorption – is also its Achilles heel.
To stabilise Avobenzone the product has Octocrylene. This is a tick in the right box.
But this product also combines Octinoxate and Avobenzone. Studies show this combination is less than ideal, as both Octinoxate and Avobenzone demonstrate less absorbance after UV exposure.
Click on LINK for more information.
But like Superman, BEMT in this product comes in and saves the day!!
BEMT is a new style, superior, photostable UVA filter that is very effective in even small quantities. Therefore, it does not matter that BEMT is listed as the 7th ingredient… When Avobenzone stops being effective, the slack is being picked up by BEMT.
Abbreviations: Avobenzone (Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane), Octinoxate (Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate), BEMT (Bis-Ethylhexyloxyphenol Methoxyphenyl Triazine
4) Is there any other reason to reject this product?
The price in the UK of this product is INR 2,800 or GBP 29. In India, Nykaa are charging INR 3,800.
5) Where can I buy this product?
You can buy this product from the brand’s website. Here is the LINK. If you live in India and prefer the more expensive version of the same product, this is the LINK to Nykaa.
I will leave you with sunscreen best practices! Drop me a line if you have any questions at email@happyskindays.com
See also
Make-up products are not a replacement for good old sunscreen