The "All Mineral" Sunscreen Screen

Over the past 8 months I’ve been trying out the Yuka App on my phone. It provides health ratings for food and personal care items that contain barcodes. Imperfect as it is, I do allow it to influence some of my choices when shopping at the grocery store. One of the complaints that critics have is that it doesn’t take into account nuances like how much of an unwanted additive is present. So even an additive considered safe in low quantities will adversely and disproportionately lower the rating score.

When the app gave the Babo Daily Sheer Fluid Tinted Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50 that I have been using and selling, a poor rating, I had to know more. The ingredient they didn’t like was Butyloctyl Salicylate, which is listed in the inactive ingredient list. 

Quick refresher: In the US, SPF products are required to list the sunscreen ingredients, physical or chemical as “actives” and everything else in the formulation as “inactives”. Typically the inactive list with SPF products is in alphabetical order, however with this Babo sunscreen ingredients are listed in descending order of predominance by weight, as non-sunscreen skincare lists them. I prefer this as it gives you more information about the formula.

So what is the issue with this ingredient? It is a chemical UV filter, which I haven’t 100% been opposed to. You may recall an early (I don’t like their current formulations) version of a Blue Lizard facial sunscreen, that I liked and sold, that had both physical blockers and chemical absorbers/filters. By not disclosing this as a sunscreen active it is not subject to the same regulations as UV filters are and the label can say “mineral sunscreen” which is what "green beauty" and sensitive skin types are looking for. They also do not have to disclose the percentage of the ingredient in the formula this way. 

Feels a little manipulative. We should be used to this by now. Turns out many brands are doing this very thing with their sunscreen formulations.

Personally, I am not afraid of this product and will continue to use it for now. I am trusting that the company is staying below the maximum concentration limit that this ingredient would be held to if it were listed as an “active”. Also, the product is “Environmental Working Group Verified” which means that this product meets the EWG's strictest standards for health and safety and avoids their ingredients of concern. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has been researching, rating, and tracking chemical safety since it was founded in 1993. So they have been at this far longer than Yuka. In 2004 they launched Skin Deep®, their cosmetics database. Again, imperfect and especially criticized for the presence of buying links which obviously have a monetary advantage for EWG.

Please note that the label claim of “Reef Safe” on some sunscreens is not a regulated term. Similar to “natural” it has no real measurable meaning. Safe to say Babo knew better than to make that claim since Butyloctyl Salicylate is in the same chemical family as Octisalate, a more familiar UV filter and one that is known to be unsafe for aquatic life.

Salicylates are not recommended for people with Aspirin allergies. To be on the safe side, I would also avoid this product if pregnant or nursing since it is a potential (again, at what level of exposure?) disruptor of the endocrine system.