Ingredient Tips Click on the following links to view the articles: Sun Screens - The Key to Good Skin Cleansers - Gently Does It Sun Screens - The Key to Good Skin What to remember: Your sun screen must be at least SPF 15 and have titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, or avobenzone (also called butyl methoxydibenzoylmethane or Parsol 1789). Always check the ingredients list...don't rely on a label that says "full spectrum" or "UVA/UVB" protection. The most important care you can give your skin An effective sun screen is, far and away, the most important product for your skin. Nothing else is remotely close. If you don’t consistently use a product with an effective sun screen, you are fighting a losing battle against wrinkles. That’s not to say you won’t get wrinkles if you use a sun screen every day, but you will get far fewer. Through rain, snow, sleet, or hail, the sun delivers its rays to you Two types of sun rays concern you: UVA rays are the main cause of your wrinkles (for most of us). UVB rays are the rays that cause burning. Both UVA and UVB are linked to skin cancer. You need to protect yourself against both everyday, no matter the season or weather...even in a blizzard. Up to 80% of UV rays are not blocked by clouds ("Thwarting Skin Cancer with Sun Sense," Carolyn J. Strange, FDA Consumer Magazine, July-Aug 1995). What is an effective sun screen? To be effective against UVA and UVB rays, a sun screen must - Be at least SPF 15. This tells you the product protects against UVB rays. - Contain titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, or avobenzone (also called butyl methoxydibenzoylmethane or Parsol 1789). This tells you the product protects against the full spectrum of UVA rays. Most people know the SPF 15 rule, but few know the second rule. But high SPF is only half the battle: UVB rays. Don't rely on the label Most sun screens on the market, even those with high SPFs and those that say “blocks UVA and UVB” or “full spectrum UVA/UVB” do not contain one of the key ingredients—titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, or avobenzone—for blocking the full UVA spectrum. Here is what these products mean: - SPF relates only to UVB rays, the burn-causing rays. So getting a high SPF product means only that you can stay in the sun longer without burning. You’ll still be exposed to the wrinkle- and cancer-related UVA rays. - “Blocks UVA and UVB” and “Full-spectrum UVA/UVB block,” on products without a key UVA-blocking ingredient, means “Blocks all UVB and some UVA.” They can say this because some UVB-blocking ingredients also block a portion of the UVA spectrum. But unless the product contains titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, or avobenzone, it does not block all UVA. Historical aside Why does the SPF rating relate only to UVB? Why doesn’t it account for UVA as well? At the time the SPF rating was developed, the scientific/medical consensus was that UVB rays were the main problem. For this reason, the SPF rating considered only UVB rays, and sun screen manufacturers focused on blocking UVB. As a result, many people stayed in the sun longer, thinking the sun screen was protecting them against cancer, when it was really just allowing them to stay out longer without burning… and exposing them to more UVA rays. You may recall hearing subsequent reports of increased skin cancer. In fact, some wrongly concluded that sun screens were directly causing skin cancer (some Internet sites still state this). The puzzle caused scientists to more closely look at UV radiation, and they realized that UVA rays were also contributing to cancer and were the main cause of wrinkles. The FDA has not approved a rating system for UVA protection because experts haven't reached a consensus about what constitutes a good test ("Thwarting Skin Cancer with Sun Sense," Carolyn J. Strange, FDA Consumer Magazine, July-Aug 1995). Currently, manufacturers can claim UVA or broad-spectrum protection on a product, as long as it contains an ingredient that absorbs some UVA. Only products with titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, or avobenzone (butyl methoxydibenzoylmethane or Parsol 1789), however, absorb all UVA. Back to Top Cleansers - Gently Does It What to remember: Use a liquid (lotion, gel, cream) non-soap cleanser that you can rinse off without using a washcloth. Avoid the potentially irritating/drying ingredients noted in Avoid These. Do not use a bar soap or cleanser. What makes a good cleanser? A good facial cleanser removes makeup, surface grime, and oil from the face and throat. It must be able to dissolve or lift the greasy binding materials that hold makeup pigments on the skin. And ideally, it should do this without the need for a washcloth, because use of a washcloth can irritate the skin and pull on it...the less you pull on your skin the better. The most effective cleansers are non-soap liquid (e.g., lotion, gel, cream) cleansers that are easily rinsed off without the need for a washcloth. Why non-soap? Soaps consist only of fats and alkali (e.g., lye). Soap isn’t as good at removing facial makeup. More importantly, most soaps have a pH of about 9 to10 (from the alkali), much too high for the face, which has a pH of 5 to 6. High pH promotes bacterial growth. It also irritates your skin. And irritated skin with more bacteria is not a good thing. Why liquid? Bar cleansers, even those that aren’t soap (e.g., glycerin bars), often have too high a pH, in which case they promote bacterial growth. Also, the ingredient that makes bar cleansers solid may clog pores. What ingredients are important? Your cleanser should have an effective surfactant that removes makeup, oil, and grime without irritating your skin. The following list shows surfactants that can dry, irritate, or sensitize your skin. Avoid these. Most other surfactants will be gentle on your skin. The list of gentle surfactants is too long to include here, so it’s easier just to remember the ones you should avoid. Avoid these ammonium lauryl sulfate magnesium lauryl sulfate myristic acid palmitic acid potassium myristate sodium cocoate sodium C14-16 olefin sulfate sodium lauryl sulfate TEA lauryl sulfate Important! As you read ingredients lists, keep in mind that many ingredients may sound like these, but they are totally different. For example, sodium lauryl sulfate is potentially irritating, but sodium laureth sulfate and sodium lauryl sulfoacetate are gentle for most people (any ingredient can be a problem for some people). Cleansers for different skin types If you have dry skin, you probably want a cleanser that leaves an emollient film on your skin. If you have normal or oily skin, you probably want a cleanser that leaves minimal film on your skin. Examples of emollient ingredients found in cleansers are caprylic/capric triglyceride, cetyl alcohol and stearyl alcohol (these are fatty alcohols, not like SD alcohol or isopropyl alcohol, and are not drying...in fact, the opposite), stearic acid, glycerol compounds, shea butter, and many plant oils. Some oils in cleansers do double-duty as both surfactant and emollient. If it seems contradictory that you use oil to remove oil, remember that oil doesn’t mix with water. To lift oil off your face, you need a solvent in which oil can mix, and that solvent can be another oil such such as olive oil or mineral oil. Other ingredients Other ingredients are less important, because you’ll rinse most of them down the drain before they can have any effect. AHAs and antioxidants, for example, are not particularly effective in a cleanser...better to have these in a good toner or moisturizer that will stay on your face. Back to Top