Hark! We Have A New Sunscreen Ingredient
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It’s almost become cliché to say that thebest sunscreensare made elsewhere — we’ve evenwritten in defense of American-made SPFafter chatter online about our relatively short list of approved UV filters reached fever pitch. But now things have changed. For the first time in 27 years, the FDA has approved a new sunscreen filter: bemotrizinol, a filter that’s been popular in European, Australian, and Asiansunscreensfor a while. This is big news for those of us who smuggle sunscreens from European pharmacies and have an intimate relationship with YesStyle and Stylevana.
Bemotrizinol is a broad-spectrum filter, meaning it helps to protect against UVA and UVB rays simultaneously. Currently the chemical filters in our sunscreens tend to do one or the other and have to be combined to offer broad-spectrum protection. Another benefit is that it’s more stable. Filters like avobenzone break down fairly quickly in the sun (hence the recommendation to regularly reapply) while bemotrizinol is more stable and doesn’t break down as easily. This doesn’t mean that the forthcoming sunscreens shouldn’t be reapplied, but you can be confident that it’s going to protect your skin for as long as it says on the bottle. According to the FDA, bemotrizinol also doesn’t absorb into the bloodstream as easily and is probably better for sensitive skin.
For now, this ingredient will be limited to a single manufacturer, Parsol Shield, which has 18 months of exclusivity. But once that timeframe is up, bemotrizinol is fair game. With that said, we shouldn’t expect a flood of overseas SPFs to suddenly appear at our local Sephoras. Many of the popular sunscreens that contain bemotrizinol, likePurito Daily Touchand La Roche-Posay Anthelios UV Pro Sport, also contain not-yet-approved filters like Tinosorb M, so they can’t be imported as is. What’s more likely to happen is that brands we already use will reformulate or we’ll get American versions of these products. Translation: It may be a minute before we can purchase a bunch of sunscreens with this new ingredient. Still, it’s an exciting development and hopefully a sign of more advanced UV filters to come.
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