Remember in the “old days” when you would see lifeguards’ noses covered in a thick white cream? It wasn’t just to look cool…that opaque white film was how you could spot sunblock. Now with new technology, sunblocks are created where the opaque film is no longer noticeable.

Sunblocks reflect UV rays and act as a wall to protect your skin. The main ingredient is Zinc Oxide. Sounds good right?  Actually this is where sunblock comes up short. With sunblocks that  “wall of protection” is only against UVB rays and not the “aging ray” UVA.

On the other hand, sunscreens, instead of blocking the UV rays, absorb them. Most sunscreens are made with chemical compounds such as Parsol 1789 that absorb not only the UVB rays but some of the UVA rays as well!

SUNSCREENS win!

Okay, but you may ask is there a better chemical compound that absorbs those UVA rays?

Back in 2005, 20/20  ran a story titled “Why Is the Best Sunscreen Blocked by FDA?"  In the story Dr. Darrell Rigel, a clinical professor of dermatology at New York University stated,

"Ultraviolet A light ages your skin. And the reason it does that, it's a longer wavelength, so it can penetrate deeper into the skin, and instead of attacking the upper layers of the skin where skin cancer often forms, it attacks the layers that give your skin its tone, its elasticity, as we call it. … You get the lines, the wrinkles, all the things associated from aging."  Mexoryl  "is the No. 1 individual ingredient in terms of protection from Ultraviolet A radiation," Rigel said.

But even though doctors agreed Mexoryl offers better protection, back in 2005 the FDA would not approve it.

That turned around in July 2006 when the FDA  approved Anthelios SX, made by L’Oreal.  Anthelios SX contains a mix of three active ingredients, one of which is ecamsule, marketed in Europe and Canada as Mexoryl SX since 1993. L'Oreal sells Anthelios SX, as a daily moisturizing cream with sunscreen.

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