I don't totally understand why people want everything to be "natural," other than because it sounds vaguely better than "unnatural," if you don't think about it too much. But some people do, so fine. If that's your thing, you should still wear sunscreen - and you're in luck because zinc oxide is pretty natural (though there is nothing wrong with chemical sunscreens - here's one I like). The downside is that zinc oxide tends to be quite opaque, so it can leave a white cast on the skin. Some formulas add tints or other active sunscreen ingredients to mitigate that whiteness, but then maybe it's not so natural anymore.
Other companies, like Jessica Alba's The Honest Company apparently just decreased the amount of zinc oxide in their "ultra-pure" natural sunscreen from 20% to 9.3%, because people didn't like the texture and appearance, while keeping the SPF 30 label on the bottle. Most other zinc sunscreens contain 18-25%. Keep in mind that the FDA has rules about SPF, but it relies on companies themselves to test their own products. The Honest Company says that they added "other ingredients" - unspecified - to compensate. But those other ingredient are not sunscreens, so they're not going to maintain the SPF. That's nonsense. And judging from consumer complaints, that solution did not work, because people have been getting literally burned by this shit.
So if you want all natural zinc-based sunscreen, you're going to have to compromise: either it's going to be less esthetically pleasing or less effective. Of course there are lots of great zinc sunscreens out there that work well, but they tend to have scary added "chemicals" (OH NOES) in them.
(Note: The Honest Company's sunscreen is marked Out of Stock on their website, so hopefully that means they have pulled it from their online store to reformulate.)
That's hilarious considering that they're called HONEST. I can't stand the insinuation by Jessica Alba and her company that everyone else is dishonest somehow. I don't think their stuff are in Canada yet but not like I'm remotely interested.
ReplyDeleteI thought they just made diapers, but I guess now they've branched out. Well, I think I will pass, too!
DeleteI know that there's a whopping lot of nonsense & fearmongering around "chemicals" in beauty products, but since I'm allergic to chemical sunscreens, I'm still glad they're making physical-only sunblocks.
ReplyDeleteOh, of course, mineral sunscreens like zinc oxide and titanium dioxide are totally effective and great! And you can get fantastic ones, as I'm sure you know, that don't contain any chemical sunscreen ingredients that are comfortable and not too white - but they tend to contain "unnatural" ingredients, not just some plant oils/butters and zinc, like this "ultra-pure" stuff does.
DeleteIf they can claim a higher spf number without additional testing/govt regulation etc, doesn't that mean theoretically we have no idea what all our spfs are except what is *claimed* by the company? D:
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's a bit disturbing. I don't know all the details, but I believe that if a complaint is filed and a company is found to be misrepresenting the SPF in their product, the FDA can fine them, etc. But until then the FDA doesn't test all the products out there or require companies to send in their formulas/test results, or anything. Even this would only work for sunscreens and other products that make drug claims. The FDA really doesn't regulate cosmetics, unless they verge on making drug claims or something and the FDA cracks down. Of course false advertising isn't legal, but it's not the FDA who regulates that (again, unless it's drug related). At least that's how I understand it as a Canadian expat living in the U.S. - and I have no clue how it works in other parts of the world. Bottom line . . . caveat emptor?
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