Best Sunscreen

[JillianS]

I have never personally used Skinceuticals, but if it's worth anything to anyone, it is one of the brands my dermatologist uses. So, it must do some good.
He also recommends Tizo which I sometimes use as a physical block:
http://solarprotectionformula.com/the_best_solar_protection_products.php

 

[candeo]

Oh, I'm sure it does a lot of good - Skinceuticals has a good range of stuff in general.

I'm probably just rather high maintenance when it comes to sunscreen: pale skin, tans/freckles easily and like to swim outside almost every day here in australia, land of the scariest sun in the world

And terrified even of the thought of sun aging me.

For me, going up from a PPD of 20 to 30+ feels important even though in % protection terms I guess not so much difference...Tinosorb works really well for me...so I'll try the Anthelios Melt-in cream

 

[rayoflight]

I've been put off trying this as it's got a PPD of 21, but the high SPF (over what you'd expect from the Zinc & TiDi) must be boosted from the artermia extract which looks like a rather nice ingredient. Allegedly, according to the original research, "an extract from the plankton, Artemia salina protects DNA from UV damage and decreases the UV-induced inflammatory cytokines, suggesting a way to help sunscreens protect skin from UV damage".

Some more info:

http://translate.googleusercontent....47.php&usg=ALkJrhiDX-Fuz08F0CSm_f09wzS5qOnb8Q

...and it's the link with Artemia extract boosting HSP70 which supposedly makes this such an interesting ingredient in protecting skin from UV damage whilst on retinoids (Retin-A, retinol etc) as retinoid therapy apparently depletes this which is one of the reasons skin becomes so sun-sensitive whilst on it (mmm, can't post that link, unfortunately)...

Still, I need a higher PDD and that's that B)

As well as a UV booster, artemia extract is used as an all-round anti-aging ingredient by La Mer, Lancome, Murad...

Maybe, I just don't know if having the HSP to protect skin actually increases the UV absorption/protection (sounds like their CE Ferulic "phoprotection" that isn't actual UV protection, except for what the 0.5% of ferulic (a relative of cinnamic acid) can absorb in UVB spectrum), I mean, other extracts/actives allegedly increase HSP production in skin, like white willow leaf or teprenone, never heard of them boosting UV filters. I wish I could get my hands on a monograph on the actual UV protective properties on this plankton.
But if Skinceauticals says it does work and they can prove that with the SPF/PPD then there *must* be something to it, they already threw the Artemia in their Sheer Physical Defense as well and it has similar filters to Physical Fusion.

 

[The_Ida]

My derm-doctor says that physical sunblock is the best way to go. I'll have to check this brand out.

Mine says the opposite, but I guess it depends on who you ask.

I'm back to Riemann's P20. Have been using it for more than 20 years. I guess I should just stick with it. It appears to be working just fine...I still don't have a wrinkle. I'm trying to get a frown line though, it will make me look much more doctor-ish next year during clinic duty

 

[rayoflight]

What some derms say about sunscreens is kinda weird sometimes though. There is this one doctor with a youtube blog that maintains that sunscreen has to go on skin first and then serums, moisturizers etc. should be applied on top. Same one also said that the measly filters in daily moisturizers are enough to protect skin... Another one thinks that it's beneficial to use sunscreen at night as well to 'build up protection'...
I rather stick with what cosmetic dermatologists say since they are most skin care oriented and know them inside out, like Leslie Baumann or really, really pretty derms with decades of hands-on experience like Cynthia Bailey (there was a link to her blog a couple posts above).


I'm kinda curious about Riemann's P20, what filters are in that one? I tried to find it in drug stores and pharmacies, but they haven't even heard of it and the couple online places that carry it don't have ingredients.

 

[The_Ida]

^It's Danish, so it's pretty hard to get a hold of I reckon! I have no clue about the ingredients, I'm counting on you to inform me This is from their website:

REVISED INGREDIENTS (new composition Alcohol denat., Octocrylene, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Hexyldecanol, Aqua, PPG-15 Stearyl Ether, Cyclopentasiloxane, Acrylates/Octylacrylamide Copolymer, Diethylamino Hydroxybenzoyl Hexyl Benzoate, Hydroxypropylcellulose.

I have no idea when they revised the ingredients. My mum has used it on me since I was a toddler, and I have never EVER had a sunburn (well there was this one time when she missed a spot on my ear, but that's 21 years ago ). People didn't give a crap about sunscreen in the 80's, my mum fortunately did.

I have never had any problems with the high alcohol content. But then again, I'm Danish, I guess I'm used to it

 

[The_Ida]

I haven't noticed if I tan with this, I generally do not tan...I guess because I'm wearing this stuff? I haven't ever had my body parts exposed brows with this stuff on, so I wouldn't know.

It's rated with 3 stars with the UVA rating system BTW.

 

[candeo]

Maybe, I just don't know if having the HSP to protect skin actually increases the UV absorption/protection (sounds like their CE Ferulic "phoprotection" that isn't actual UV protection, except for what the 0.5% of ferulic (a relative of cinnamic acid) can absorb in UVB spectrum), I mean, other extracts/actives allegedly increase HSP production in skin, like white willow leaf or teprenone, never heard of them boosting UV filters. I wish I could get my hands on a monograph on the actual UV protective properties on this plankton.
But if Skinceauticals says it does work and they can prove that with the SPF/PPD then there *must* be something to it, they already threw the Artemia in their Sheer Physical Defense as well and it has similar filters to Physical Fusion.

Not exactly conclusive, but might find this interesting - the patent application linking artemia with uv protection: http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20100129299

Artemia extract = active ingredient GP4G (= name it's marketed under by ISP) = diguanosine tetraphosphate

And if you assume that the other stated filters ZincOxide 5% + TiDi 6% => spf15 or absolute max spf 20ish if it's slathered on (using the basf sun filter calculator to guess this) and there are not other filters in it bar artemia extract, then this little something is working quite hard...however strange that may seem...

The oddest thing, is now I'm looking for it' this stuff is everywhere, either in sunscreens or anti-aging stuff: laura mercier, givenchy, soleo, borlind, institut esthederm, sothys, lierac as well as the ones I mentioned above: la mer, murad, lancome...in fact I have absolutely no idea how I lived without it

 

[Liya]

I use the Keihl's liquid sunscreen spf 50...it seems greasy when first applied, but then it sinks in nicely and doesn't make my skin shiney. It also doesn't make me break out, which is rare for me!

 

[rayoflight]

^It's Danish, so it's pretty hard to get a hold of I reckon! I have no clue about the ingredients, I'm counting on you to inform me This is from their website:

REVISED INGREDIENTS (new composition Alcohol denat., Octocrylene, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Hexyldecanol, Aqua, PPG-15 Stearyl Ether, Cyclopentasiloxane, Acrylates/Octylacrylamide Copolymer, Diethylamino Hydroxybenzoyl Hexyl Benzoate, Hydroxypropylcellulose.

I have no idea when they revised the ingredients. My mum has used it on me since I was a toddler, and I have never EVER had a sunburn (well there was this one time when she missed a spot on my ear, but that's 21 years ago ). People didn't give a crap about sunscreen in the 80's, my mum fortunately did.

I have never had any problems with the high alcohol content. But then again, I'm Danish, I guess I'm used to it

I haven't noticed if I tan with this, I generally do not tan...I guess because I'm wearing this stuff? I haven't ever had my body parts exposed brows with this stuff on, so I wouldn't know.

It's rated with 3 stars with the UVA rating system BTW.

REVISED INGREDIENTS (new composition Alcohol denat., Octocrylene (280 to 320-350 nm, according to Syrgis), Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate (280 to 320-330 nm, B&K Technology and BASF), Hexyldecanol, Aqua, PPG-15 Stearyl Ether, Cyclopentasiloxane, Acrylates/Octylacrylamide Copolymer, Diethylamino Hydroxybenzoyl Hexyl Benzoate (320 to ~385 nm with 354 nm being the highest absorption point, according to BASF who sells this as Uvinul A Plus), Hydroxypropylcellulose.

Basically it's Uvinul A Plus B filter combo with added Octocrylene to get UVB part higher. Is not bad at all, since Uvinul A is a great long UVA-I filter and unlike Avobenzone it doesn't deactivate with metals and doesn't break down within 30 minutes. Great advantage of living in EU or JP where Uvinul A is approved! It certainly rocks way more than old La Roche formulas or a bunch of other sunscreens.

 

[JillianS]

Great advantage of living in EU or JP where Uvinul A is approved! It certainly rocks way more than old La Roche formulas or a bunch of other sunscreens.

I just did some mini-research on this. Am I correct in reasoning that it is not approved for personal use in the US?
It says that it is approved to protect products, but nothing about people.

 

[rayoflight]

Not exactly conclusive, but might find this interesting - the patent application linking artemia with uv protection: http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20100129299

Artemia extract = active ingredient GP4G (= name it's marketed under by ISP) = diguanosine tetraphosphate

And if you assume that the other stated filters ZincOxide 5% + TiDi 6% => spf15 or absolute max spf 20ish if it's slathered on (using the basf sun filter calculator to guess this) and there are not other filters in it bar artemia extract, then this little something is working quite hard...however strange that may seem...

The oddest thing, is now I'm looking for it' this stuff is everywhere, either in sunscreens or anti-aging stuff: laura mercier, givenchy, soleo, borlind, institut esthederm, sothys, lierac as well as the ones I mentioned above: la mer, murad, lancome...in fact I have absolutely no idea how I lived without it

Dunno, that calculator isn't really accurate, more like a theoretical tool. Doesn't give accurate results for me and not consisted with actual physical test results. With 5% TiO2 + 5% ZnO it is possible to get up to SPF 30 alone, given that a formula doesn't contain anything that decreases the effectiveness and given that both filters are coated.

But the brine shrimp (is that the Artemia turns out to be) is kinda popular indeed and does possess UV protective superpowers!

Found this on my computer from some article, I think this, but I'm too sure. http://www.cosmeticsandtoiletries.com/formulating/ingredient/booster/2245027.html

The invention relates to a marine-based cosmetic product provided for regenerating and stimulating skin cells. The product is comprised of 0.01 to 50 wt %, with regard to the total mass, of an active ingredient combination made of a) a product of an enzymatic extraction process of sea plankton Artemia salina, whereby the extraction product is comprised of phosphorylated nucleotides with the main components diguanosine-tetraphosphate (GppppG); b) D-myo-inosite-1,4,5-triphosphate; c) glucan; whereby the ratio a:b:c is in the area of 1:0.1-50:0.1-30. Use of the product results in a synergetic effect against aggressive environmental influences by naturally strengthening the immune system of the skin, stimulating skin regeneration and, at the same time, providing ultraviolet protection with the assistance of improved keratin barriers.

And this, from here: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...M-fp_qZn_j4i8-gEQ&sig2=W8I762qINhrsuZpQWRTALw

Study on sunscreen effects of Artemia urmiana and Artemia salina
total extracts and their fractions
Nazemiyeh H.1*, Shokri J.2, Kargar M.2, Ahmad-Nasrolahi S.2, Azarmi S.2, Modarresi M.2 1Research Center for Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology School of Pharmacy, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, 2School of
Pharmacy, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences
Received: 2005/9/28 , Accepted: 2005/11/14
OBJECTIVES: The importance of using sunscreens is not unknown nowadays, meanwhile the adverse reactions of some synthetic chemical or physical sunscreens and successful researches done on using natural ingredients from plants and animals, extended the way of studying on natural compounds of which Artemia is one new example. The aim of this investigation was to study the sunscreen effects of total extracts of Artemias and their fractions. METHODS: For achieving this aim, two main steps were taken including preparation of different extracts and fractionating them and then studying their UV spectra. The dried Artemia powder was extracted with hexane for 24h, and then the remained powder was extracted with dichloromethane. Extraction with dichloromethane caused remarkable decoloration of Artemia powder. Final extraction was done by several solvent systems including methanol, ethanol and hydro alcoholic solution (70: 30 water- ethanol). The liquid extracts were dried by rotary evaporator at ambient temperature and reduced pressure and standard solutions were prepared from dried extracts. For preparing of standard solutions, a distinct weight of dry extracts was dissolved in equal volume of solvent. The UV spectra of the solutions were recorded in the range 190-400 nm. Then fractionation of these extracts was done for more accurate analysis of active sunscreen ingredients included in them. For this purpose, the total extracts were chromatographed over a column of Sephadex LH-20 using MeOH. RESULTS: The collected fractions were analyzed by UV spectrophotometer individually and the same samples were combined with each other for determining the main fractions. After evaluation of fractions, the best sunscreen fraction was selected based on UV absorption characteristics. The second fraction of hydro alcoholic (70:30) and the third fraction of methanol extract had the best results in UV-B region. CONCLUSION: The Results of the present study showed that the hydroalcoholic and methanol extract of Artemia urmiana as well as Artemia salina can be used as sunscreen in topical preparations but it would be suggested to use hydro ethanolic fraction in formulating sunscreen products because of disadvantages of methanol application in topical formulation.

 

[rayoflight]

I just did some mini-research on this. Am I correct in reasoning that it is not approved for personal use in the US?
It says that it is approved to protect products, but nothing about people.

Nope, doesn't seem to be approved for sunscreens sold in USA, not according to this: http://www2.basf.us/corporate/news2004/02272004b.htm
Maybe it has been approved in mean time, who knows, that article isn't exactly new. If it's still not approved then too bad, USA misses out on a couple newer generation UV filters that are very good at UVA-II and more importantly UVA-I protection.

 

[nita-karoliina]

best ones imo are neutrogena wet skin 85 spf (the one that every magazine raves about, well it really is good)

for face LA ROCHE-POSAY anthelios sx daily moisturizing cream with sunscreen 15spf.

 

[oh me]

^ that Neutrogena one sounds good. Does anybody know if it's available in Europe?

And I have a stupid question: Do I have to buy extra sunscreen for my face and another one for my body or can I use one overall?

 

[The_Ida]

^I use the same sunscreen on my face and body. There's not point in buying two, they contain the same ingredients anyway?

 

[BonjourTristesse]

I have a (probably stupid) question... My daily moisturizer - just bought it - contains SPF 15. Is this enough? Or do I need to put on extra sunscreen?

 

[rayoflight]

I have a (probably stupid) question... My daily moisturizer - just bought it - contains SPF 15. Is this enough? Or do I need to put on extra sunscreen?

As such it might be enough to keep you from burning/aging, if you don't live in a really sunny place. It really depends on which filters are in it and a couple of other things as well. Stuff like Olay Complete All Day UV Moisturizer SPF 15 wouldn't be a good choice, it wouldn't last even 1 h in any kind of sun before the UVA protection would be all gone and the aging rays would get to skin, even though technically it is broad spectrum sunscreen, but it's not too photostable. Is a case by case thing anyway, no two sunscreens are equal, but I'd probably go for something with more protection anyway.

 

[BonjourTristesse]

^ Thank you! I can't karma you right now. Sorry :-)

Ok... I guess I'll use this cream until it's used...and then buy something like Roche Posay again.

 

[Georgi]

ECO logical FACE.
Simple non-sexy low-tech formula that looks sheer - not too matte/not too shiny - doesnt stink and stays on well even during sports. Removed easily with any cleanser and protects well - no nasty tan yet.B)

ACTIVE INGREDIENT: Zinc Oxide 20%
Inactive ingredients: Purified Water (Aqua), Isoamyl Laurate, Capric/Caprylic Triglyceride, Sorbitan Stearate, Sucrose Cocoate, Caprylyl Glycol, Cetearyl Alcohol, Cetearyl Glucoside, Hydroxypropyl Starch Phosphate, Polyhydroxystearic Acid, Xanthan Gum, Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Seed Extract*, Rosa
Canina (Rosehips) Seed Oil*, Camellia Sinensis (Green Tea) Extract*. *Certified Organic

Also comes in a 22% BABY formula with Avocado and Carrot Oil.

ACTIVE INGREDIENT: Zinc Oxide 22%
Inactive ingredients: Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Oil, Capric/Caprylic Triglyceride, Silica, Cera Alba (Bee’s Wax), Butyrospermum Parkii Seed (Shea) Butter, Candelilla Wax, Polyhydroxystearic Acid, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba), Organic Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Seed Extract, Persea Gratissima (Avocado), Organic Rosehips Seed Oil, Carota Sativa (Carrot) Oil, Botswellia Carterii (Frankincense), Organic Camellia Sinensis (Green Tea) Extract.

http://ecologicalskin.com/products/baby/