You thought you were protecting your skin with sunscreen when in reality…

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When I travel to Europe, the one thing I make sure to bring back is sunscreen.

Unfortunately, most sunscreens in the US cause exactly one the problems we are trying to solve for…skin cancer, amongst other issues.

Two key ingredients protect you from UVB and UVA rays: zinc oxide and titanium dioxide. The only sunscreen you need is one that has one of these as active ingredients - if you are shopping in the U.S. or you're shopping imported products from the U.S.**

Anything that includes the top 6 ingredients below as active ingredients has:

1. Not been proven safe by the FDA - this should already tell you a LOT as the FDA, as of today, has been very lax with products that go on the skin. For them to not even deem it safe says a lot

2. Been deemed as carcinogens, hormone disruptors and skin irritators by safety organizations

Health concerns associated with sunscreen active ingredients

^Strong, some, or no/weak denote the level of evidence available

*Skin absorption evaluation based on findings from Matta et al. (2020), “Effect of Sunscreen Application on Plasma Concentration of Sunscreen Active Ingredients: A Randomized Clinical Trial.” JAMA.

Take a screenshot of this image and keep with you when you shop online or at the store

P.S., the FDA hasn’t fully updated regulation on sunscreen since 1999 despite multiple attempts. However, there is a bill this year trying to modernize the regulation.

The last time there was properly funded research on sunscreen was during World War II(!) to protect military personnel with high exposure to sun. Wild!

However, in 2019, the FDA submitted paperwork stating that:

“the transdermal absorption of some sunscreen active ingredients is greater than previously thought, and thus may raise previously unevaluated safety concerns, including the potential for reproductive, developmental, or carcinogenic effects.”

The current congressional bill builds on the 2019 paperwork.

While I'm speculating here, I cannot de-link the continuous mention of “potential reproductive” issues associated with sunscreen, deodorant and some lotions to the fact that so many of my friends are having fertility challenges and having to retort to science to reproduce. Just something to think about.

Concentration limits of some of these ingredients were established in 1999 and haven’t been updated since. The only thing I want from 1999 is to party like it's 1999!

But not rely on that research.

The good news at least is that the FDA just announced that mousse, whipped, or foam sunscreens are not approved. If you have them at home, toss them out!

And please, if you find them on sale at a T.J. Maxx, don't buy them!

Supergoop! and Vacation are 2 popular brands that received warnings from the FDA.

“Safe” sunscreens that didn’t work

I’ve tried zinc oxide sunscreens from Supergoop! and didn’t have much success.

I traveled to the Galapagos with a good friend of mine. Every time I applied this sunscreen on the go, she would, fortunately, tell me about the opaque white cast I would have on my face. At some point, I stopped worrying about the white cast (I have light olive/Mediterranean skin so it was visible!) and thought about it as a necessary side-effect of mineral sunscreens in order to protect my skin from the sun and from harmful chemicals. You can imagine what I looked like in pictures!

But even then, by the third day, my skin was showing signs of sunburn! I had to use my friend’s Shiseido sunscreen to avoid future burns.

Having worked for the Shisiedo Group, I knew exactly what harmful ingredients were in that sunscreen. In normal circumstances, I wouldn’t have touched it with a ten foot pole but sometimes, you gotta do what you gotta do...

Safe sunscreens that actually work

Fast forward to that spring, I found myself in Madrid. knowing that while the US only bans 11 harmful beauty ingredients, the European Union bans over 1,300, I took a trip to the pharmacy (pharmacies in Europe are like mini Sephoras) in search of a good sunscreen and found Avene.

This is the only sunscreen I ever wear and couldn’t recommend it enough.

Even if we are now at the beginning of September, there is still plenty of sun out in the northern hemisphere and a lot more sun around the equator. So, while summer is “over”, please be mindful of the UVB and UVA rays.

My final tip

The less we put on our skins, the safer we are - at least under today’s safety reviews and regulation.

As much as I can, I travel to the beach with a beautiful wide rim hat like this one that protects even my shoulders. In NYC, when it’s not too hot, I wear one like this or a good old baseball hat. Which, fortunately, in NYC are seen as a fashion item ;-)

I usually put sunscreen on:

• My face - only when the hat won’t do

• The top of my shoulders

• My hands

• My feet (if i’m at the beach)

Sun is not bad for you.

It helps you develop that much needed vitamin D naturally - which you need for your immune system.

What is bad is over exposure.

So think about it - when do you need sunscreen and when will a gorgeous hat and a white cover up do the job for you?

And for when you do need sunscreen, I’d recommend Avene’s Mineral Sunscreen Multi-Defense Fluid SPF 50+. It is pricey but it does go a long way. I think about it as an investment on my health and preventive care. The list of ingredients is at the bottom.

Continue enjoying the sun while truly protecting your beautiful skin!

A revoir!

And, if you'd like to send me a love note, I'm at Alexandria@alexandriacollective.com

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**Outside the U.S., new ingredients have been approved for sun protection and inclusion in sunscreens. However, the FDA, due to the current cumbersome process, hasn’t been able to review these ingredients to deem them safe or unsafe and therefore they are not approved yet.

SOURCES:

https://www.fda.gov/drugs/cder-conversations/update-sunscreen-requirements-deemed-final-order-and-proposed-order

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/02/26/2019-03019/sunscreen-drug-products-for-over-the-counter-human-use

https://www.ewg.org/sunscreen/report/the-trouble-with-sunscreen-chemicals/

Ingredients

ACTIVE INGREDIENTS: ZINC OXIDE 12%

INACTIVE INGREDIENTS: WATER, C12-15 ALKYL BENZOATE, JOJOBA ESTERS, CAPRYLIC/CAPRIC TRIGLYCERIDE, PROPANEDIOL, POLYGLYCERYL-4 DIISOSTEARATE/POLYHYDROXYSTEARATE/SEBACATE, TRIDECYL SALICYLATE, NYLON-12, NIACINAMIDE, METHYLPROPANEDIOL, SILICA, GLYCERIN, SODIUM CHLORIDE, COCO-CAPRYLATE, POLYGLYCERYL-2 DIPOLYHYDROXYSTEARATE, CAPRYLYL GLYCOL, BISABOLOL, ALLANTOIN, ORYZA SATIVA (RICE) BRAN EXTRACT, STEARALKONIUM HECTORITE, LECITHIN, POLYGLYCERYL-3 DIISOSTEARATE, POLYGLYCERYL-3 POLYRICINOLEATE, PHENYLPROPANAL, HELIANTHUS ANNUUS (SUNFLOWER) EXTRACT, TOCOPHEROL, ROSMARINUS OFFICINALIS (ROSEMARY) LEAF EXTRACT, TETRASODIUM GLUTAMATE DIACETATE, SODIUM HYDROXIDE.