Sunscreens are designed to protect our skin from the sun's rays. This requires reliable UV filters, which can be roughly divided into two groups: conventional, chemical UV filters and "newer", mineral UV filters. In this blog post, we take a closer look at mineral UV filters and explain: What is a mineral UV filter and how does it work? Which ones are there? And what is the advantage of sunscreens with mineral sun protection?
What is a mineral UV filter?
Mineral UV filters are also called inorganic or physical filters. They are based on minerals such as zinc oxide or titanium oxide. Inorganic refers to the chemical properties of the UV filter: it is a chemical compound with oxygen (= zinc and oxygen become zinc oxide). This is processed into powder and used in cosmetics.
⇢ Here we explain more about the difference between mineral and chemical UV filters .
How do mineral UV filters work?
Mineral UV filters settle when applied like a film on the skin and form a physical barrier that protects the skin from the sun's rays. The pigments from the mineral UV filters reflect the sun's rays like a mirror , so that the UV filters - unlike conventional chemical filters such as oxybenzone, octocrylene and octinoxate - do not have to penetrate the skin to be effective. The mineral particles remain on the skin and do not absorb, which is why, depending on the filter, a certain whitening effect can occur, as the particles are whitish. However, there are now new, innovative filter formulations that only have a slight whitening effect.
What mineral UV filters are there?
The most common UV filters found in cosmetics, and particularly in natural sun creams , are zinc oxide (INCI: Zinc Oxide) and titanium dioxide (INCI: Titanium Dioxide). Zinc oxide offers high broad-spectrum protection . This means that zinc oxide protects against both UVB and UVA radiation . Titanium dioxide, on the other hand, primarily protects against UVB and only partially against UVA radiation, which is why it is often found in sun creams in combination with other UVA filters. In addition, there are increasing discussions about titanium dioxide and its use in food or other care products. However, no ban has yet been imposed on its use in cosmetics. However, we have opted for a purely mineral zinc oxide filter for our sun protection rather than a combination of several mineral UV filters, so we do not use titanium dioxide in any of our products.
Good to know : UVB rays are short-wave and blame for the nasty Sunburn . UVA rays, on the other hand, are long-wave and essentially responsible for the Skin aging . When choosing your suncream So make sure you have sufficient broad-spectrum protection, especially for your baby, as the skin at a young age still has very little natural protection.
What is the advantage of mineral UV filters?
Mineral UV filters have a clear advantage over chemical ones due to their mode of action: They do not penetrate the skin cell and interact less with the skin . While the chemical filter on the cell in the skin has to ensure the reduced absorption of UV radiation, the mineral filter acts like a protective shield - without setting in motion chemical or hormonal processes in the deeper skin cells. As a result, they release very rare allergic skin reactions Another advantage is that they no exposure time need and protect immediately from the sun's rays after application. Although users notice a slight whitening effect with some sun creams, the formulas have now been refined so well that there are now also mineral sun protection without the whitening effect It can also have a positive effect if you can see exactly where you have already applied cream.
Also for them Environment offer Mineral sunscreens have advantages, so they are often colloquially referred to as "reef-friendly" or "coral-friendly". The terms refer to the absence of chemical UV filters in the sunscreen such as octocrylene, oxybenzone and oxtinoxate. These can be harmful to coral reefs because they are not or only poorly degradable and can lead to so-called "coral bleaching". They can also penetrate the hormonal system of animals and thus damage them.
Our suncream is in accordance with the Hawaiian Reef Law , which is why you can use it on your beach vacation. In some countries like Australia, the use of conventional sunscreens with the above chemical UV filters has even been banned - so it's high time to switch to a mineral sunscreens like ours. ☀️
OUR EXPERT
Dr. med Michaela Hagemann I boep founder, doctor & mother of three
