Comments on: Face Sunscreens: A PSA (By Popular Demand)

By: Tap13

Tap13 — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 16:26:00 +0000

I agree, I had skin cancer on my face, & really stay out of the sun..now I'm so low in Vit. D...can't seem to get it up to normal...

By: bella

bella — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 12:11:00 +0000

I also use Clarins UV Plus Day Screen SPF 40 for my face! I have combination skin with an oily t-zone, and in humid weather it's even worse. This is the only one for me that does not make the skin feel sticky and cause breakouts. Love it! xx

By: vvn

vvn — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 20:10:00 +0000

Honestly, I'm not sure why people are so afraid of nanoparticles. I work with them, they're fine. Their small size doesn't alter the chemical properties; their small size has allowed researchers to explore physical regimes that could not be accessed before due to size limitations. Anyway... I also wanted to point out that I have seen scientific literature showing nanoparticles are not readily absorbed into your skin. They are VERY difficult to get into cells, which is why there are research groups that work on delivery methods. I am most concerned with inhaling them because they are fine and aerosol easily and have crystalline structure that make them potentially damaging. However, I suspect most people aren't inhaling their sunscreen

By: vvn

vvn — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 20:04:00 +0000

I addressed this concern with my doctor because I had very low amounts of vitamin D in my body at one point. I told her I do wear SPF 30 or more everyday, regardless of the weather. She said that probably contributes to it, but for a healthy individual, 15 min of sun exposure/day is all that is required to maintain healthy levels of vitamin D.

By: vvn

vvn — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 20:01:00 +0000

I was very paranoid about sunscreens/sunblocks at one point because I had read that sunscreens can cause free radicals, which are so aging and damaging, to be produced at the surface of your skin. So I did a review on peer reviewed scientific literature (journal access is a perk of school!) to look into this more. This appears to be a problem with chemical sunscreens. HOWEVER, the right formulation (e.g. mix of other chemicals) can prevent these free radicals from doing much harm. For chemical sunscreens, it is recommended to look for the 3 O's (all ingredients starting with O but I can't remember them right now). Another caveat is that you trust the company did their research thoroughly and included enough components to stop these radicals For this reason, I use physical sunblocks. Rather than absorbing the UV, these mineral oxides deflect them. Also, oxides are stable and run lower risk of reacting further in our typical daily conditions. They do rub off (I see it on my phone all the time) but chemical sunscreens should also be reapplied regularly due to their chemical decomposition.

My current favourite is Clarins UV Plus HP Day Screen SPF 40. I like this because about a year or two ago they started making a tinted version. It doesn't offer coverage like a foundation but it does help. Also, it's mineral based (one of the first few mineral based metal oxide sunblocks I could find), feels light on the skin, has a fairly neutral smell, and doesn't develop a weird smell later in the day (I hate sunscreens that start to feel sticky and smell bad as the day goes on). Also, it's SPF 40! Finding tinted products with SPF > 20 seems to be difficult. And for people who think they don't need SPF 30, I recommended looking at UV forecast for the day. It's amazing how high SPF can be now, even early during the day!

By: Isabel

Isabel — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 14:04:00 +0000

You obviously don't seem to get the point I'm trying to make of this.

Wear sunscreen, be safe. But once in a while (IF YOU DON'T HAVE ANY SEVERE SKIN ISSUES!!! <--- how can I exaggerate that more?) reveal an unprotected part of your body so you can live a healthier life. As it says, Vitamin D is crucial for our body's overall health, which we don't get enough of if we are wearing sunscreen (UV-protection) all the time. Yes, yes, yes you can get it elsewhere and you should if you can't get it from the sun! But there's not much foods that contains it, and if you don't drink milk or take supplements the sun is a good choice. It does not cost anything, it works fast, and it's just outside our window.

PS I have bad acne. It's probably not as bad as skin cancer, but it sometimes feels like it.

By: Jennifer Wolffarth

Jennifer Wolffarth — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 15:43:00 +0000

You've obviously never had skin cancer.

By: D.A.

D.A. — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 17:06:00 +0000

Great article and wonderfully written! I wish I had used sunscreen on my hands, arghhh!! GET AT IT (lol)!

By: EMvL

EMvL — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 09:23:00 +0000

I hope someone can help me with this question, I love REN's new Photoactive Sun Veil, which is zinc-based, but as it only has spf15, I think I need something more heavy-duty during the summer. If I mix a little with Badger's sunscreen (really thick, high spf, also zinc based) the texture will be tolerable but the spf higher, no? I'm so picky when it comes to sunscreen, I want one that is natural, zinc-based no nano-particles, no parabens/chemicals but the consistency can't be too thick, so I thought combining these two would work, or am I wrong?

By: Cat

Cat — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 13:08:00 +0000

Great post! Thank u Unfortunately I just bought a sunscreen. It is by Sensilis (SPF 30) - but I seem to be unable to find out if it is good or not. It doesn't list the ingredients on the bottle.. Would you recommend me buying a new or do you happen to know about this brand?