Pass on this sunscreen – its a NO BUY
Welcome back! I’ll get right to it!
This product contains Butylated hydroxytoluene (“BHT“), a cosmetic preservative and the risk associated with it, is that at high levels it is an estrogen mimicker. An estrogen mimicker may cause hormonal disruption. I would not use this product especially because at this price point, the manufacturer can do better – it can quite easily replace BHT with another preservative.
If money is no issue for you, as this is an expensive sunscreen and you, erroneously believe your skin is an impregnable fortress against BHT, then you you should consider buying this product.
This product does a more than adequate job of providing sufficient protection against both UVA and UVB radiation. Just to remind you, over-exposure to UVB (causes skin reddening, sunburn and skin cancer) and to UVA (causes tanning and photo-aging).
That’s it for today. Please drop me a line at EMAIL ME if you have any questions or would like to see a specific product on this blog.
See also Top 5 sunscreen recommendations. What follows is a detailed look at this product, in what I affectionately call (drum roll please), the Skincare Nerd Edit.
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The Skincare Nerd Edit
What follows is a technical write-up, which I hope find educational. I follow the guidelines I published in this post: How to Buy Sunscreen: the UVA cut
Q1) Are there any harmful chemicals in this product?
I am looking for the presence of parabens, BHT, TEA-Salicylate, Benzophenone-3 (or Oxybenzone) and 4-Aminobenzoic Acid (or PABA).
This product contains BHT and its my “thing” to point readers away from using BHT. BHT are preservatives and to quote directly from the David Suzuki foundation’s website:
Limited evidence suggests that high doses of BHT may mimic estrogen…, the primary female sex hormone, and prevent expression of male sex hormones…, resulting in adverse reproductive affects
https://davidsuzuki.org/queen-of-green/dirty-dozen-bha-bht/
If you are fine with BHT, then continue reading.
Q2) Is the SPF of the product 30 and above?
Yes.
Q3) What are the UVA, UVA/UVB filters?
The effects of over-exposure to UVA and UVB are cumulative and are shown below:
“Filters” protect against damage caused by UV radiation. The filters present in this product are:
- UVB Filters
- Octinoxate or Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate
- Octisalate or Ethylhexyl Salicylate
- Octocrylene
- UVA Filter: Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane (commonly Avobenzone)
Q3 cont’d) If the UVA filter is Avobenzone, make sure the combination is stable
In my guidelines, I indicate that: when Avobenzone is combined with Octocrylene (like here), it improves its photostability.
But this sunscreen also contains Octinoxate that reduces the photostability of Avobenzone. This is a less than ideal combination and naturally, I am wondering if this product provides effective UVA protection.
My dilemma is answered by the presence of this logo on the packaging:
For products made in the EU (as this sunscreen is), this logo means that at least 1/3 of the sunscreen protection is towards UVA.
Therefore, this product offers enough protection against UVA rays!