How to overcome the compliance challenge

COSSMA: What are the most important ingredient trends in the field of sun care?

Uli Osterwalder, Consultant: When we look at the claims on sunscreen products, it often seems that the most important ingredients are the ones that are not contained in the product. Fortunately, the European Cosmetic legislation now puts some limits to these “free from” claims. It is worthwhile to remember that the heart of each sunscreen, that is, its most important ingredients, are the UV filters. They can be organic or inorganic. Interestingly enough, the last new UV filter, Tinosorb A2B from BASF, was introduced 5 years ago. 

The protection mechanism of UV filters is to absorb harmful UV rays and to convert them into harmless IR rays (vibrations of the molecules). Particulate UV filters also contribute a little bit by reflecting and scattering UV rays, which creates a synergistic effect together with the molecules that only absorb UV rays. 

However, the same effect also causes “whitening” in the visible range, an effect which is not desired by consumers. This means that important innovation in sun care takes place at the application level:  sprays for application on wet skin or “dry protect” sprayable w/o emulsions. Such innovations are important to improve consumer compliance which, unfortunately, is still rather poor.  A lot of people still apply too little sunscreen, none at all, or do not spread it uniformly.

In addition to the core UV protection and anti-ageing claims, several other claims have recently gained in popularity:  protection against infrared or blue light or anti-pollution. All these claims are partially connected to traditional or new ingredients such as anti-oxidants, but such innovations are only of secondary interest for the primary purpose and function of a sunscreen.