Swathy and Sky

You are here: Home / Archives for Swathy

Swathy

What are UV Radiations? {Sunscreen}

· · 2 Comments

Ok, so I have never really discussed what exactly are UV radiations and how are they harmful for us even though I have done many articles on sunscreens. So, for those who are not aware, the UV radiations are the ones emitted by the sun and these are extremely harmful for the skin. These radiations are known to cause various type of skin cancers, affect the immune system and of course, regular skin disorders like sunburns, wrinkles, fine lines and age spots. Now, there are two types of radiations which are most harmful and penetrate the Earth’s atmosphere – UVA and UVB. In case  you are thinking that there are no other radiations emitted by sun, they are all (UVC and other radiations from the sun and other stars) absorbed by the ozone. That again is very important reason why we should help reduce global warming otherwise more radiations would penetrate Earth’s atmosphere and harm the human beings. Even UVA and UVB do get blocked to a lot of extent but our wearing out the ozone layer is causing some havoc.
UVA is mainly responsible for aging of the skin. It is the dominant of the radiations and penetrates the skin more deeply causing the wrinkling and damaging the skin. It also results in the tanning of the skin. And, may also initiate skin cancers. And, UVB results in the skin reddening and sunburns. It contributes to tanning and aging but mainly plays a key role in development of skin cancer. UVB is intense in the time from 10AM – 4PM all the year round and is more intense on reflective surfaces like snow and ice. It doesn’t penetrate the glass much. UVA rays penetrate glass, though, even the tinted ones!!!
Now, one more damage which the UV rays can do is damage to the eyes. So, it is advised to get shades or make your glasses with photo-chromatic lenses so that they are able to deflect the sun rays. And, do not forget to wear sunscreen even if you are staying inside. Both UVA and UVB can penetrate through open windows.

Now, in this post, I mentioned a small point that spf factors block UVB radiations. Well, yes. They do not in general block UVA radiations. There is a star system which determines the sunscreen’s efficiency in blocking the UVA rays so basically, you are only protecting yourself from UVB. Currently, I do not think there is any sunscreen in India with star ratings. That’s a downside of getting even the best sunscreens.

What Sunscreen should I buy? {Sunscreen}

· · 13 Comments

So, yesterday, I did a very long post on the ingredients of sunscreen. So, the reason I did that post was because I wanted to do this following post in which that knowledge would be helpful. By the way, I do not claim whatever I had written yesterday is complete.
Now, what are the important factors in deciding sunscreen?
  • SPF : Yes. But, as I mentioned in this post, anything above 30 doesn’t really provide extra protection so spf 30 products are enough. And, still, if you want to aim for high, anything beyond 50 is worthless.
  • Labeling : Always buy a ‘broad-spectrum’ sunscreen. The label should be there on the product. Btw, most of the Indian products do not have such labeling conformations which is pretty sad.
  • Ingredients : You would want to ensure you are getting adequate protection so look for the ingredients I mentioned in the chart.
  • Manufacturing : Buy as latest sunscreen as possible because the composition of the sunscreen may break down if kept unused for long.
  • Brand : Always get a trusted and established brand which has proper research facilities. I would definitely add here that do not get herbal sunscreens as they do not have any of the sunscreen ingredients. They might prevent tanning but there is no saying as to they can protect skin from UV radiations. And, I would definitely put my trust in chemical products than sticking to herbal in such cases.
Anything I might have forgotten which you think should be included in this list?

Sunscreen Ingredients {Sunscreen}

· · 13 Comments

Now, I am not sure but have you ever come across the term ‘Sunblock’. Well, let me then tell you that this word doesn’t hold good at all. The reason being FDA (US federal drug administration) has passed out some guidelines regarding the labeling of sunscreens in which it makes it clear that the term ‘Sunblock’ is misleading and can’t be used anymore. Now, if you guys remember, I had done a very old post, my first post on sunscreens in which I had explained two types of sunscreen – chemical and physical sunscreens. So, yup, that’s the only classification which holds.
Sunscreen (Chemical Sunscreen)
  • applied half hour before going out
  • absorbs the sun rays to prevent damage to the skin
  • has to be as close to skin as possible for maximum protection
  • has to be reapplied to ensure effectiveness
Sunblock (Physical Sunscreen)
  • has to be applied immediately before going into sun
  • the ingredients deflect sunlight from the skin instead of absorbing
  • should be the top most layer of products applied so as to deflect the rays
  • has to be reapplied only if one is perspiring or during swimming or when it is raining or in any case where there is a likelihood of the product being washed away
Approved Sunscreen Ingredients Chart from September 2006 given out by FDA
So, if you are buying sunscreen, make sure your sunscreen has any or some of these ingredients listed above. Generally you will find avobezone and oxybenzone are most used in products like Lotus, Lakme and even in the dermatologist prescribed sunscreens. Now, from the chart, you can easily infer that though most of the ingredients provide adequate UVB protection, there are very few ones good at providing UVA protection.
 
What is Helioplex?
Helioplex is a patented technology of Neutrogena. As I mentioned above, avobenzone and oxybenzone are the most commonly used ingredients.
Avobenzone is a UVA blocker and Oxybenzone is UVB blocker but both ingredients are highly unstable, especially Avobenzone which breaks down pretty quickly (within half hour) when exposed to sunlight. So, Helioplex is a stabilizing formula developed by Neutrogena which harnesses the potent characteristics of Avobenzone and Oxybenzone to provide a broad-spectrum sunscreen which is stable.
What is Mexoryl?
Have you come across this term? Well, it was all in rage till very recently as the new ‘sunscreen’. So, referring back to the chart, check out the ingredient called ‘Ecamsule’. This ingredient is marketed by the name of ‘Mexoryl’ and the very reason it might have become very popular would be attributed to its characteristic of being a very good filter of UVA but unfortunately, it doesn’t give the broad-spectrum protection. This is a patent of Loreal. Check out this post by Sesame on better comparison of Helioplex and Mexoryl.
P vs C 
Now I come to the most important part of the post. Referring back to the chart, you would find the fourth column very interesting. Most of the ingredients are chemical and only two are physical ingredients – Zinc Oxide and Titanium Dioxide. Now, what makes physical ingredients different from chemical ingredients?
  • Chemical Ingredients absorb the UV rays, as I mentioned above. So, where do this absorbed energy go? Inside our bodies. And, they becomes manifested as something which you would be familiar with ‘free radicals’. Yup, the very thing which makes us age.
          Physical Ingredients just sit on the skin and deflect the sun’s rays.
  • Chemical Ingredients are highly unstable and breakdown in the sun very easily. That is why one is supposed to apply the sunscreen frequently.
       Physical Ingredients do not break down in sunlight and need not be reapplied frequently as frequently as the chemical sunscreens.
  • Chemical Ingredients do not leave any white cast on the skin.
          Physical Ingredients do. A disadvantage.