How to Choose the Best Tinted Sunscreen for those with hyperpigmentation or melasma
Did you know not all tinted sunscreens offer the same quality of protection against UVA and Blue Light? We’re sharing how to find the best tinted sunscreen for those with hyperpigmentation, dark spots and melasma.
Why choose a tinted sunscreen?
You have probably heard from many skincare experts and even dermatologists that tinted sunscreens offer superior protection for those who suffer from hyperpigmentation, dark spots or melasma because they extend your sunscreens protection into the visible light range. This study showed that a mix or coloured iron oxides, namely yellow, black and red, could offer blue light protection through their light scattering properties. This study, while very interesting, does not compare the blue light protection that some UV filters can also provide. We’ll take a look at what UV filters provide the best blue light protection (and also free radical protection) and show that while it’s great to use iron oxides in your sunscreen to ‘boost’ their protection, you shouldn’t assume that all tinted sunscreens are created equal.
All About Blue Light? How harmful is it and sources of exposure.
Did you know that blue light borders long wave UVA light on the electromagnetic light spectrum? That’s right. Blue light and long wave UVA are the equivalent of neighbouring countries- like Canada and the US. The borders that is used to distinguish between the two is actually a little bit arbitrary and will change depending according to some sources. Typically we say that long wave UVA is between 340 nm to 400 nm and blue light starts at 400 nm but their actual start and end points are not quite as finite as that. Why is that important? It gives a clue as to why certain UV filters that are very efficient at protecting against UVA light are also very good at protecting against visible light.
In terms of sources of exposure, most people focus on the amount of blue light that our electronic devices emit but we actually get a lot of visible light exposure through sunlight as well. Keep in mind that visible light makes up 50% of sunlight that reaches the earth, compared to UV light (UVA and UVB) that only makes up 5%. Of that visible light that hits the earth, 20-30% of it is made up of blue light.
We still do not know how harmful blue light is to the skin. It’s actually used as photo therapy for certain skin disorders by dermatologists in their offices. There is strong evidence to show that it produces harmful free radicals that cause oxidative stress on the skin and it can cause pigmentation.
In short, if you have pigmentation issues including melasma, it makes sense to include some form of protection in your sunscreen against blue light and free radicals.
How to choose the best sunscreen for blue light protection.
As mentioned, coloured iron oxides extend the protection of a sunscreen into blue light. However, we would recommend looking at your UV filters first and choose a sunscreen based on the active ingredient/s as these can have a huge impact on how protective the sunscreen is against blue light and also long wave UVA (which also causes free radical damage and pigmentation).
We used the BASF Solar simulator to see what different UV filters at different concentrations provide in terms of percentage or degree of protection against both blue light and free radicals.
UV Filters that provide excellent blue light and free radical protection in sunscreens. Considers these first when choosing your tinted sunscreen.
As you can see the particulate grade filters Zinc Oxide and Tinosorb M have significantly improved performance against blue light protection and free radical protection in comparison to UV filters like Avobenzone. In fact, particulate grade filters had better blue light protection than all other ‘chemical’ filters including Avobenzone but also oxybenzone, homosalate, octisalate etc. Why?
It actually makes intuitive sense why the mineral filters Zinc Oxide and Titanium Dioxide and the other particulate grade filters Tinosorb M and Tinosorb A2B have great UVA and blue light protection. It relates to how the prevent UV light from hitting the skin. Most UV filters like Avobenzone etc. work by absorbing light and turning it into heat. Zinc Oxide, Titanium dioxide, Tinosorb M and Tinosorb A2B also mostly work by absorption but they do also reflect and scatter UV light. As it turns out, they do the majority of their reflection and light scattering in the long wave UVA and blue light portions of the light spectrum. Their strong performance in the UVA portion of light (especially zinc oxide and and Tinosorb M) correlate into a strong performance into blue light as well.
Summary: choose a mineral sunscreen with zinc oxide and iron oxides
It’s funny that even the original study that looked at the impact of iron oxides and blue light protection mentions the importance of using it with a high concentration of zinc oxide. Many experts forget about the zinc oxide part of the study and focus on the iron oxides and then recommend using a tinted sunscreen over a non-tinted sunscreen for those with pigmentation issues. However, using a sunscreen with a high concentration of zinc oxide (as close to 25%) is an essential piece of the puzzle in choosing a tinted sunscreen. Alternatively, you can also look for a tinted sunscreen that uses a high concentration of Tinosorb M- our calculations were modelled after using a 6% concentration however this is not commonly found in commercially available sunscreens due to aesthetics.
If you are looking for a great tinted sunscreen option that features 25% zinc oxide, a blend of coloured iron oxides and titanium dioxide, our Cyberderm Simply Zinc Ultra SPF 50 is a great option. We actually created it for the very reason of being great for preventing pigmentation and melasma and included a trifecta of all ingredients for the best well rounded protection we could develop.