Did you know the US is extremely behind on Sunscreens?

The United States unfortunately has some of the worst sunscreens available. This is because we are limited to very few approved sunscreen filters. Also most of these sunscreen filters that are approved are oil based, meaning that makes for some heavy sunscreens that don't always feel the best on the skin. Especially under makeup.

We also only have 1 UVA filter that is approved, which is Avobenzone. Unlike other countries like the EU and Asia which have a bunch of different UVA filters available and they have more UVB filters that aren't oil soluble.

UVA - is the main cause for aging from the sun (think A for aging)

UVB - is the main cause for sunburns / skin cancer. (think B for Burn)

When shopping for sunscreens in the US you want to look for one that is broad spectrum. This means it is good against UVA and UVB. In the EU look for a "UVA" label on the bottle. In Asia look for "PA+" or up to "PA++++"

While we are talking about sunscreens I will also take this time to address again that you should never make sunscreens at home. Coconut oil is not an SPF that can protect you from UV rays and you can't just add some zinc oxide into your lotion. SPF products have to be formulated in a specific way to make sure the SPF is dispersed evenly in the formula. This isn't easy to do and requires a lot of testing. Your product needs to be tested to make sure that it is being spread evenly on the skin and needs tested for it's SPF level. Calculating SPF isn't very simple to do.

It's simply illegal to sell anything labeled as SPF in the US without it being FDA approved. If any small businesses are selling SPF products I wouldn't trust it unless they can prove they were FDA approved.

Info from the book I'm reading “Skincare Decoded” by Victoria Fu & Gloria Lu

Affiliate link for book - https://amzn.to/3JUbcet