Sunscreen Tech

[frorider]

That Trader Joe’s stuff is 3% avobenzone. https://www.byrdie.com/avobenzone-8628655

Blue Lizard mineral is cheap at Costco. The white paint effect of this, and other decent quality metal oxide sunscreens, is pretty minimal. As a physical chemist who had my career swerve into toxicology for a while, I’m dead set on avoiding any of the chemical UV blockers. They all seem to have high dermal transfer into the bloodstream with unknown longterm effects. YMMV

[tgapp]

That Trader Joe’s stuff is 3% avobenzone. https://www.byrdie.com/avobenzone-8628655

Blue Lizard mineral is cheap at Costco. The white paint effect of this, and other decent quality metal oxide sunscreens, is pretty minimal. As a physical chemist who had my career swerve into toxicology for a while, I’m dead set on avoiding any of the chemical UV blockers. They all seem to have high dermal transfer into the bloodstream with unknown longterm effects. YMMV

put this in plain english for me pls

should I only be using zinc oxide based sunscreens?

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[Dantheman]

Zn oxide or Ti oxide only, ideally. At least if you're using it frequently, though obviously you want to avoid getting sunburnt period.

[XtrPickels]

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put this in plain english for me pls should I only be using zinc oxide based sunscreens? Sent from my Pixel 8 Pro using Tapatalk

</p>
<p>
The chemical crap doesn&#39;t just stay on your skin, it gets into your blood and we don&#39;t know what BS it may do to us over the years.&nbsp;</p>

[zion zig zag]

Will I eventually become sun resistant from the inside out?


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[HappyCamper]

Thanks for this - haven't thought of sunscreen choices since the glowing Zinka 80's days. Ordered the Blue Lizard.

[Dantheman]

The chemical crap doesn&#39;t just stay on your skin, it gets into your blood and we don&#39;t know what BS it may do to us over the years.

Quite a few of them are known or suspected endocrine disruptors. But, that is mostly based on animal data and a lot of questions remain regarding the actual dangers to humans, especially if you aren&#39;t lathering up every day. We do know exactly what long-term unprotected sun exposure does to us: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trucker...s-on-the-road/

[Danno]

I was looking for "reef safe" sunscreens a while back, and looked at Blue Lizard. Based on my research about harmful ingredients, their website spoke to some of those harmful ingredients but was silent on others, and had the very legalese statement of "Blue Lizard Sunscreens do not contain Oxybenzone and Octinoxate, making them reef-friendly as defined by the State of Hawaii."

i was turned off by that and purchased other products.

[jackstraw]

Maybe Google saw me look at this thread because this popped into my feed.
I don't know anything about EWG, but a quick look seemed informative.

https://www.ewg.org/sunscreen/

[Shredhead]

I'd be concerned if I had an infant.
Being an old fart, I'll just keep using the same stuff.

[SKIP IN7RO]

I was looking for &quot;reef safe&quot; sunscreens a while back, and looked at Blue Lizard. Based on my research about harmful ingredients, their website spoke to some of those harmful ingredients but was silent on others, and had the very legalese statement of &quot;Blue Lizard Sunscreens do not contain Oxybenzone and Octinoxate, making them reef-friendly as defined by the State of Hawaii.&quot; i was turned off by that and purchased other products.

AI Overview
Blue Lizard Australian Sunscreen products are manufactured and distributed in the United States by Crown Laboratories in Johnson City, TN. The company&#39;s headquarters are located in Johnson City, TN. Although the products are now manufactured in the United States, Blue Lizard continues to adhere to the stringent Australian standards for sunscreen.

[fleaches]

AI Overview
Blue Lizard Australian Sunscreen products are manufactured and distributed in the United States by Crown Laboratories in Johnson City, TN. The company's headquarters are located in Johnson City, TN. Although the products are now manufactured in the United States, Blue Lizard continues to adhere to the stringent Australian standards for sunscreen.

I mean this is all sort of marketing since they can't actually use any Australian chemicals in the US... So who knows what "Australian style" means.

That being said it's still my favorite domestic sunscreen.

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[SKIP IN7RO]

stringent Australian standards defined by the state of Hawaii
fair dinkum haole

[HappyCamper]

Perhaps mineral sunscreen is a half-measure, but its a step up from the apparent crap I have been slathering on over the years.

Given that my yearly visits to the dermatologist have gotten more anxious (says doc, we need to excise that) I have come around to the realization that a big hat and sleeves should be my new normal.

Sunblock is just the fail-safe when I am not covered up.

[The Suit]

I kiteboard a lot in Maui. 2-4 hours on the water in the middle of the day. I've settled on Raw Elements SPF30 (https://www.rawelementsusa.com/collections/spf30). I optimized for water-resistance, and I don't care how I look as long as I don't go the full Zuckerberg white-face. I use the cream or the lotion pretty much interchangeably and they both work. I usually re-apply on my face if I take a break and go back out for a second session. I've tried quite a few alternatives and always go back to that one, FWIW.

[XtrPickels]

For daily use of mineral sunscreen on your face, everyone should man-up and use the tinted stuff.
I use Supergoop Unseen and no one can tell that I have on tinted sunscreen.

[frorider]

…

[frorider]

Xtra and Dantheman are correct. https://www.vogue.com/article/best-non-toxic-sunscreens is sorta advertorial but still generally correct. Metal oxides can be zinc oxide, titanium oxide, iron oxide etc. The particle size distribution is key to how visible they are on your skin. My earlier point was that decent ones like blue lizard have been designed to minimize the white paint look. IMO it is not very noticeable.

[jackstraw]

My wife bought me the super goop play sunscreen. It seems to work well, but more importantly it doesn't burn my eyes.

[Dromond]

I've always disliked applying thick mineral sunscreen, but recently tried Blue Lizard and liked it much more. Thanks for the tips to get it at Costco and for the TJ's off brand one to try.

[EWG]

For surfing or other extended time in the ocean I really need a greasy thick mineral sunscreen. I like the blue lizard, but for nose and right below the eyes Ive had better luck with Salt and Stone Tinted Mineral Stick. Which is hard to find, but awesome.

[~mikey b]

Piz Buin Mountain SPF 50

[ghosthop]

When I read up a few years ago my understanding was that you need both zinc and titanium oxides to protect against UVA and UVB.

We frequently use Cerave 50 spf at our house because it can easily be found.

[Dantheman]

When I read up a few years ago my understanding was that you need both zinc and titanium oxides to protect against UVA and UVB.

We frequently use Cerave 50 spf at our house because it can easily be found.

Zn and Ti are both broad spectrum.

edit: I stand corrected. Looks like Zn only is OK but Ti only is not, though I can't recall ever seeing a Ti only formulation.

[XtrPickels]

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20806994/

Titanium is not a replacement for Zinc or Avobenzone regarding UV-A protection (Photo-aging & Skin Cancer)