Monday, June 19, 2006

check the label

Experts are now saying that good ole sunscreen (no matter the SPF) may not do what it was designed to do, protect you from skin cancer. Apparently you don't need a sunburn to get skin cancer, and although sunscreens efficiently screen out UVB rays, not all screens are created equal. Many sunscreens do not protect you against the most harmful UVA rays (the rays that penetrate deep into your skin and cause cancer and wrinkles).

How does your sunscreen add up? Check the label and see if it includes the following ingredients:  zinc oxide, titanium dioxide or avobenzone. Another tip - check to see if the sunscreen has expired. I went to get some sunscreen out of my cabinet before a trip and realized it expired in 2003.

Posted by stephanie at 20:27:39 | Permanent Link | Comments (1) |
Comments
1 - Even an expired sunscreen is better than none at all. In the beauty bizz we are required to put experiation dates on sunscreens but they don't completely go bad.

Interestingly, there is a class action lawsuit going on in California against sunscreen manufacturers specifically because they are making strong claims but not really protecting from skin cancer. We'll see how that turns out. Similarly, they are suing L'Oreal for claiming their hair products make hair stronger when they don't really. (Comment this)

Written by: Left Brain at 2006/06/29 - 12:54:50
Write a comment