Comments on: How to Read a Sunscreen Label

By: Christine

Christine — Mon, 21 Jun 2021 10:59:36 +0000

In reply to Mia. Tinosorb and Uvinul are both chemical sunscreens and should be avoided in pregnancy.

By: Mia

Mia — Mon, 21 Jun 2021 06:35:19 +0000

Hi! Thank you for all your informative posts! I was wondering if the new sunscreens that included Tinosorb or Uvinul are safe for use while pregnant? Zinc oxide sunscreens seem to burn my skin over time. Thank you for your help! 🙂

By: Ally

Ally — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 22:23:04 +0000

Wow! Thank you so much for such an informative post. This will definitly help come this summer when my work commute is going to be significantly longer. (I seem to always burn on car rides)

By: Jeni

Jeni — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 18:31:17 +0000

This is a great post about the new sunscreen regulations! I was going to write about it on my blog but maybe I will just link to your post instead! I always wear zinc oxide-based sunscreens, and I'm curious to see if it will become a much more commonly used ingredient now.

By: Jaime Leah

Jaime Leah — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 03:43:14 +0000

I completely agree with you that SPF greater than 30 is needed for us pale girls. What can it hurt to use SPF 100 if it's the same price as SPF 30, I need all the help I can get.

By: Christine

Christine — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 01:58:39 +0000

Bere-
Start here: Sunscreen 101: How to Pick the Right One for You, and when you know kind of what you are looking for shoot me an email at cemikese at yahoo.com and I'll help you from there. :D

By: bere

bere — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 01:38:26 +0000

Ok yeah this was all very informative, so thank you very much. But it gets very confusing trying to remember all that when buying a sunblock/sunscreen, then piling on loads and loads of sunscreen everyday, I don't know where to start.

By: Christine

Christine — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 22:31:33 +0000

Chatchien-
I'm happy you've found my posts so helpful! In regards to the problems you've had with sunscreens on your face, have you tried a completely physical sunscreen on your face? The problems you are having sounds like a bad reaction, and I wonder if a non-chemical option would be better.
Ecamsule is Mexoryl SX, I don't know that XL has actually been approved in the US as it is a different chemical and that name doesn't appear on the approved list here in the US. There's a good explanation of Mexoryl here (they have good info on lots of chemicals on this site, I just found it in Google searching to figure out the name of mexoryl XL), and on this site one of the tinosorbs in a physical sunscreen and the other is a hybrid chemical/physical. They aren't approved in the US, so I'm not sure who makes them for Europe. I would bet that Lumene and La Roche Posay ones are available, those are the sunscreen brands I always hear that people stock up on when they visit Europe.
I have a saved copy of my sunscreen ingredients graphic on my iPhone for when I'm shopping. So yes, I really do have a cheat sheet! I think the new FDA guidelines will help eliminate most of that. We'll just have to look for over SPF 15 and broad spectrum on the package.

Cynthia- Thanks so much for your nice comments! I was really curious what you would think of this post. I really agree about the sunsmart clothing. I've been shopping for some recently since my 4 month old (who seems to be a pale strawberry blonde, if I can figure it out from her short baby fine hair) is too young for sunscreens. If you have favorite brands of sun smart clothing I'd love to know who they are!

By: Lindsey D

Lindsey D — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 20:31:59 +0000

I'm glad to see the FDA is going to be making companies prove some of their ridiculous claims and whatnot. Maybe if everyone is worried about all the people who don't use sunscreen correctly (though, if they're not applying the correct amount, they're probably also not applying it everywhere it needs to go or as often as they should, etc., so I don't think a decrease in potential sun protection will make a huge difference to most people), the FDA or sunscreen companies should fund some PSAs. I'm sure the sunscreen companies could only benefit by telling everyone how much sunscreen they should be using lol

By: Cynthia Bailey MD, Dermatologist

Cynthia Bailey MD, Dermatologist — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 20:08:36 +0000

You've done a great job explaining a heady subject. Your wavelength absorption graphic is so helpful for clarifying the specifics.

As you know I'm a mineral sunscreen gal and love my zinc ox. The mechanism of action as a stable reflector is what gives me such confidence. It's also much less likely to irritate sensitive skin (aka mine!).

Great reiteration of the 1 oz per adult body per application point too! I love to tell people that a tube is 1 day at the beach…..so you might want to coverup some of the skin surface w/ sun protective clothing, it's less work and probably less expensive in the long run. It's also better protection since you're less likely to miss spots or application intervals.

Here's the 'trouble' I go through when I'm in extreme sun http://www.drbaileyskincare.com/blog/savvy-sun-protection-for-your-winter-getaway-lessons-from-my-polynesian-cruise/ It works and helps prevent wrinkles, age spots, cancers and the like.

Great job!
Cynthia Bailey MD, Dermatologist