A Sci-Fi novelist once wrote that the Sun’s rays will soon be so intense that all will have to wear sunscreen just to walk their dog, that time has come. Daily, it becomes evermore important to protect ourselves from UV and HEV rays. Too bad inorganic sunscreens, those that contain titanium dioxide and zinc oxide, leave a white cast. Yet, sunscreens that tint our skin white are best for you and the environment.
Most popular sunscreens are inorganic, and their active ingredients don’t contain carbon. Interestingly, inorganic ingredients aren’t absorbed by the skin, leaving a persistent white cast behind.
You may call the white cast “ugly;” but I call it “beauty.” As noted in our previous article, Sunscreen Tips: Reducing White Cast ingredients in inorganic sunscreens, like titanium dioxide and zinc oxide, leave a white cast. When using an inorganic sunscreen, a white cast is unavoidable but reducible. Yet, the white cast is beneficial, it’s much like putting a coat of paint on a house.
I call the white cast “beautiful” because inorganic sunscreens aren’t as harmful as chemical filters. Chemical sunscreens, such as those that contain avobenzone, octinoxate, and oxybenzone aren’t safe for the environment, marine life, reefs, or our skin. In fact, chemical sunscreens possess particularly small particles. Small particles easily penetrate the pores in our skin and even porous reefs and corals, unless they are micronized or nanosized. Moreover, most chemical filters have been proven hazardous in some way or the way. Even teratogenicity, birth defects, is associated with some ingredients in organic sunscreens. And so I say, good health is beautiful.
If you are a diver, a nature enthusiast, a sports enthusiast, or a health-conscious person, a white cast is a look to sport this Fall. Aside from ultraviolet rays, inorganic filters provide protection against HEV. In some ways, we may be living in a Sci-Fi dystopia, but we can protect ourselves. And by following the tips found in Sunscreen Tips: Reducing White Cast you can avoid looking like a ghost.
About Author –
Mr. Pratik Shah
Senior R&D specialist at Maxima Solutions
