Did You Know that Sunscreens do more damage than protection

1. Did You Know that Sunscreens do more damage than protection So you are about to hit the beach or rather, the sun. You are heading towards your office, in a scorching heat when the temperature hits just the half century (almost if you are sitting in the capital city- New Delhi). And before you step out, you are conscious and careful enough to apply your daily routine sunscreen. And you truly believe that this is by far the best that you can do to your skin so as to save you from the heat that awaits you. You believe that you have won the battle against tan, isn’t it? Well, we are extremely sorry to bash your sincerest hopes, but the truth is that these sunscreens that your skin bears are nothing more than a yet another toxin that doesn’t do any good. Rather, these conventional sunscreens almost deteriorate your skin at a much faster rate than you could imagine. But, however, it doesn’t mean that we recommend you not to apply sunscreens at all. Rather, you must wisely choose your sunscreen, with all your guards on. And we will come to that in the later section of this blog. Firstly, Let us examine as to why these sunscreens are damage to the skin-

2. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) conducted a research and basis that published a guide in 2014 that reviewed over 2000 sunscreens from more than 250 brands. What they found was flabbergasting. As close to 75% of the sunscreens tested were carrying toxin chemicals that can increase one’s risk of grave diseases including cancer and other health issues. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is an environmental health advocacy organization based in the United States. There are certain sunscreens that go as deep as the last layer of skin, thereby bringing with it a great deal of toxins to damage the innermost skin cells that are not easy to regenerate. Also, some sunscreens absorb into the blood, and some have toxin affects. Some release skin-damaging free radicals in sunlight, some act like estrogen and disrupt hormones, and several can cause allergic reactions and skin irritation. Sadly enough, FDA has not issued stringent safety standards for sunscreen ingredients. Hence, there are a lot of sunscreens that have questionable ingredients that go uncensored and are passed on to us. Many of these chemicals are considered hormone disruptors. Hormone disruptors can affect how estrogen and other hormones act in the body, by blocking them or mimicking them, which throws off the body’s hormonal balance. High-SPF products tend to lull users into staying in the sun longer and overexposing themselves to both UVA and UVB rays. Imbued with a false sense of security, people extend their time in the sun well past the point when users of low-SPF products head indoors. As a result, they get as many UVB-inflicted sunburns as unprotected sunbathers and are likely to absorb more damaging UVA radiation. Frankly speaking, the sun doesn’t cause any danger to us. Infact, if you pick up a random group of people with daily normal diets and lifestyles, almost 80% will have Vitamin D deficiency that results from deficiency of sunlight exposure. Obviously, we mean exposure to sun only to an extent of 20 minutes everyday and that too the morning sun. We do not mean by this that you must stand right in front of the sun at peak sunlight hours and get yourself heat stroked. Our agenda today is to educate you a little on sunscreens so that when you go out next time for your routine cosmetics purchase, you come out as a smart shopper and not an amateur. Heading to the crash course further, let’s broadly divide the sunscreens on two primary criteria.

3. There are two kinds of sunscreens- mineral based and chemicals based. In order to make it easy for you to identify which one is your sunscreen, do look on the back side of your sunscreen where the ingredients are written. Minerals based sunscreens typically include ingredients like zinc oxide or titanium dioxide, which create a physical barrier to protect the skin from the sun. Whereas, Chemical sunscreens use one or more chemicals including oxybenzone, avobenzone, octisalate, octocrylene, homosalate and octinoxate. One thing to also keep in mind is that high SPF sunscreens pose higher threat to the skin exposing it to UV rays as they require higher concentrations of sun-filtering chemicals than low SPF sunscreens. So how do we now come to a conclusion as to whether to use a sunscreen at all or not? All the organic sunscreens are mineral based sunscreens which reflect the sun’s rays, rather than absorb them like chemical sunscreens.

4. You can increase the level of sun protection by choosing sunscreen that combines zinc oxide and titanium dioxide to provide broad-spectrum protection against both UVA and UVB rays. Apart from all the technicalities, organic sunscreens feel so light on your skin that you do not feel like your face’s skin is caged in some chemicals. It gives a very natural feel to your skin thanks to the natural ingredients that make a visible difference from that you get with conventional sunscreens. Environmental awareness is a yet another reason for you to switch to organic sunscreens. These are non-toxins, parabens free, not tested on animals, and GMO free. Like we always say about the organic cosmetics; if you are conscious enough to not let chemicals enter your body when you eat food, you must also not let the toxins reach your skin and penetrate with organic cosmetics. A comprehensive approach towards going organic will not just include organic food but will also have a great deal of emphasis on probably everything that’s organic. And this is what we always propagate. Reference: - http://organicinsights.in/know-sunscreens-damage-protection/