HOW DO PHYSICAL & CHEMICAL SUNSCREENS DIFFER?

Technically a sunscreen is composed of sun filters. These are agents that either block, deflect or reflect UV rays. And, many sunscreens often use a combination of both physical and chemical blockers to achieve optimal results.

Physical filters; include zinc oxide and titanium dioxide such as Mineral Makeup. They work by sitting on top of skin and either reflecting or scattering UV rays. Zinc oxide can block against both UVA and UVB rays, covering the whole spectrum, while titanium dioxide only delivers protection from UVB rays. Both ingredients work well, and in a Mineral Makeup, offer amazingly natural coverage skin.

Chemical filters; include a range of ingredients including avobenzone (also known as Parsol 1789), oxybenzone, Tinosorb M, Tinosorb S, Mexoryl SX and Mexoryl XL amongst others. These agents work by interacting with the skin’s top layer to absorb UV rays and convert them into energy before they can harm skin. Chemical sunscreens tend to use a combination of ingredients to protect against the full spectrum of UV rays. Avobenzone offers UVA blocking capability, but one problem is that it tends to degrade upon exposure to light. In fact, the FDA suggests applying these sunscreens every hour for them to be effective. 

The Problem With Chemical Sunscreens; For decades, irresponsible cosmetic companies and some very vocal, publicity-seeking dermatologists have strongly advocated that chemical sunscreens should be heavily applied before any exposure to sunlight, even on young children. They insisted that such sunscreen use would prevent skin cancer and protect your health. This was despite of a lack of any adequate safety testing of these chemicals.  Over the past decade, many scientists studying cancer have come to virtually the opposite conclusion; that is, the use of sunscreen chemicals may be increasing the incidence of cancer.
It now appears that many heavily-used chemical sunscreens may actually increase cancers by virtue of their free radical generating properties. And more insidiously, many commonly used sunscreen chemicals have strong estrogenic actions that may cause serious problems in sexual development and adult sexual function, and may further increase cancer risks.
It is not that these compounds were ever viewed as benign substances. Organic chemists have been long aware of the dangers of compounds in chemical sunscreens. Such chemicals are widely used to start free radical reactions during chemical synthesis. These chemicals are the dangerous types that one carefully keeps away from your skin while working in a laboratory. To use them, you mix them into a combination of other chemicals then flash the mixture with an ultraviolet light. The ultraviolet absorbing chemicals then generate copious amounts of free radicals that initiated the desired chemical reactions.

So what’s the pay off? If you use chemical sunscreens you won’t get sun burned but if you do you will most likely get skin cancer?

Controversy With Titanium Dioxide; It seems that there are some uninformed individuals that feel that Titanium Dioxide (a common component of Mineral Makeup) is a harmful carcinogen.  But when you delve a bit deeper into this controversy you find that in fact, the only negative side effects of this ingredient were shown in lab rats.  It seems that the rats were forced to inhale massive doses of the dust for six hours per day, five days per week for two years but developed only slight lung tumors. They also noted that the biological relevance of this data to lung tumors in humans is negligible. It is important to note that rats are known to be an extremely sensitive species for developing tumors in the lungs when overloaded with poorly soluble, low toxicity dust particles. Rat lungs process particles very differently compared to larger mammals such as dogs, primates or humans. This sensitivity in the lungs has not been observed in other rodent species such as mice or hamsters, therefore using the rat model to determine carcinogenicity of titanium dioxide in humans can be misleading, as extrapolation of species-specific data to humans is erroneous.

Mineral Makeup As A Sunscreen; I (Todd) have been working with mineral makeup ever since they were available for purchase back in the 80’s.  I’ve worked for and with almost every major mineral cosmetic company on the market.  Although I feel there are “good” and “not so good” mineral makeup’s available, they are still a better alternative for sun protection than their chemical counterpart.  The concept of chemical sunscreens has never made sense to me.  The idea of a chemical turning the suns rays into energy to prevent burning should be a heads up to anyone concerned about introducing chemicals to their bodies.  It’s hard for me to watch parents slather their children with these substances and not say anything.  I have found that a good mineral makeup provides sufficient protection form burning and it only has to be applied once a day.  Unlike chemical sunscreens that must be applied hourly to be effective.  The other plus with mineral makeup is their anti-inflammatory properties making them perfect for people with acne and rosacea.  When looking for a good mineral makeup, be sure to stay away from those containing Bismuth Oxychloride.  You’ll find this ingredient in many cheap and commercial mineral make up’s such as L’oreal, MAC, Bare Escentuals, Laura Mercier, Lancome, Estee Lauder, Glo Minerals, Colorscience, Youngblood, and Pur Minerals, to name a few.  I found that Jane Iredale, Bobbi Brown, and Avon minerals do not contain any Bismuth.  Avon used to but about 1 year ago took it out of their mineral makeup.  Renovar Salon / Beautique will carry two brands of mineral makeup; Bare Faced and Monave.  Both lines are free of Bismuth Oxychloride and Parabens.  We will have the largest selection (62 shades) of foundation available anywhere.