The Aim of This Article

In this article, eventual benefits and downsides of sunscreens labeled as “natural”, “organic”, “hypoallergenic”, or “biodegradable” are presented in the (hopefully) unbiased way.

What are Natural Sunscreens?

Claims like “all ingredients are derived from natural substances” can be often found on some sunscreen packages. There is no regulation that would tell which sunscreens may be called natural. According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, natural means “existing in, or produced by nature”, “not artificial”, meaning “not man made”. But the process of deriving ingredients from a natural source may include artificial procedures and artificial substances, making originally natural product unnatural.
continue reading Natural and Organic Sunscreen

What is a Sunscreen?

Sunscreen is a topical (to apply on the skin) product that protects the skin against harmful effects of the sun.

How Can the Sun be Dangerous?

The sun, besides emitting visible sunlight, also emits non-visible ultraviolet (UV) rays.

UV-B rays may cause sunburns and skin cancer (through a damage of DNA in the skin cells). New studies suggest that UV-A rays may also cause skin cancer (1). UV-A exposure may result in photo-aging: skin wrinkling, age spots (hyper-pigmentation), freckling, visible capillaries, and lost of skin elasticity (through the breakdown of connective tissue in the skin) (2).

continue reading What Is a Good Sunscreen – Sunscreens Products, Sunscreen Facts