There are a lot of confusions between organic and mineral sunscreen. If you are into skincare you have probably heard that organic filters are chemical sunscreens while mineral sunscreens are physical sunblocks. The whole concept is to tell you that mineral sunscreens are natural whereas organic ones are those horrific chemical compounds that will mess up your health. These assumptions are probably the ones that annoy me the most. “Natural” doesn’t mean much to me. Whether an ingredient is synthesized by a plant or man-made doesn’t make a difference for the skin. There are plenty of natural ingredients that are highly toxic to us. Both mineral and organic sunscreens are chemicals. A mineral sunscreen required a great deal of science to create and to disperse the mineral filters into the vehicle.
Mineral Filters
The two mineral filters used are zinc oxide and titanium dioxide. There are named mineral filters because there are not organic molecules. An organic molecule is composed of carbon and hydrogen. Zinc oxide protects the skin against UVB, UVAII, and UVAI. However, titanium dioxide only protects against UVB and UVAII. I remind you that UVAI age the deep layer of the skin. Hence, I do not recommend mineral sunscreens that use only titanium dioxide.
Organic versus mineral filters
Here again, there are a ton of confusions between the two families. Organic filters are very complex because there are so diverse. Unfortunately, in the USA, only a handful of organic filters are available in the market. Tinosorb S and M are for instance not available in the USA which is a shame. The « new” organic filters are very photostable and well formulated have high UVA protection, higher than mineral filters.
Why mineral sunscreens
I recommend mineral sunscreens if you are sensitive to organic filters especially in the USA because you don’t have a choice of organic filters. There are also fantastic for acne prone skin. Some organic filters can trigger more breakouts. It has happened to me a lot. If you suffer from acne mineral sunscreens can help to manage acne. Choose a mineral sunscreen that is silicone base. Mineral sunscreens are great after any dermatologic treatment such as a strong peel, laser resurfacing, micro needling…
Recommendations
I have linked my current favorite mineral sunscreens at the end and I give more details on my video.
- 🧪 Mineral sunscreens recommendations
- Innisfree Triple care SPF50+ PA++++ ⎪https://amzn.to/2RzH0IX
- Make p:rem UV defense Blue cream SPF50+ PA++++ ⎪ https://amzn.to/2RxVzwS
- MizuMi UV water Serum SPF50+ PA++++ ⎪https://amzn.to/2X4wVFh
- Avene Complexion correcting shield SPF50+ ⎪https://www.skinstore.com/avene-high-protection-complexion-correcting-spf50-shield-dark-us/11397657.html?affil=thggpsad&switchcurrency=USD&shippingcountry=US&&thg_ppc_campaign=71700000049461516&gclid=Cj0KCQjwjMfoBRDDARIsAMUjNZrNqRo8CMPDyseB5Rofcsypf20w1iG-YPc_7whBH0_MoIQybzWSqsUaAgGwEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
- Avene Fluid Mineral SPF50+ untinted⎪https://amzn.to/2XwnF0Y
- Avene Fluid Mineral SPF50+ tinted⎪https://amzn.to/2XBmMnH
- Bioderma Photoderm SPF50+ ⎪https://www.bioderma.com/en/our-products/photoderm/nude-touch-spf-50-natural-tint
Thank you for your time
Cyrille
