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Tag: skincare

  • Everyday Sun Protection, Explained

    Everyday Sun Protection, Explained

    Sunscreen is the single most evidence-backed step in any routine, and also the step people most often get wrong — usually by applying a quarter of the amount the SPF rating assumes.

    What SPF actually measures

    SPF measures protection against UVB, the wavelength responsible for burning. It says nothing about UVA, which penetrates more deeply. For UVA you want a broad spectrum label, or a PA rating — more plus signs mean more protection.

    The amount matters more than the number

    SPF is tested at two milligrams per square centimetre, which works out at roughly a quarter teaspoon for the face and neck. Apply half that and you get considerably less than half the protection. A generously applied SPF 30 beats a thin SPF 50.

    Mineral or chemical

    Mineral filters — zinc oxide, titanium dioxide — sit on the surface and work immediately. Organic filters absorb UV and convert it to heat, and tend to feel lighter with less white cast. Neither is inherently safer or more effective; the better one is whichever you will reapply.

    Reapplication

    Every two hours of direct sun exposure, and after swimming or heavy sweating. Indoors away from windows, a single morning application is generally fine — the risk is in the hours actually spent outside.

    This is general information rather than medical advice. If you have a specific skin condition or a history of skin cancer, your dermatologist’s guidance takes precedence.

  • How to Read a Cosmetics Ingredient List Without a Chemistry Degree

    How to Read a Cosmetics Ingredient List Without a Chemistry Degree

    The ingredient list on the back of a jar is written in INCI — the International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients — a standardised naming system used worldwide. It looks impenetrable, but it follows a few rules that make it far more useful than the marketing copy on the front.

    Order tells you concentration

    Ingredients are listed in descending order by weight, down to one percent. After that threshold, the manufacturer can list them in any order. So if the ingredient you are paying for appears after the preservatives and fragrance, you are looking at a very small amount of it.

    The first five do most of the work

    They typically make up the large majority of the formula. Water, a humectant such as glycerin, an emollient, an emulsifier, and a thickener — that is a moisturiser. The interesting actives usually sit lower down.

    Latin names are plants

    Botanical ingredients carry their botanical binomial, often with the common name in brackets. Butyrospermum parkii is shea butter. Simmondsia chinensis is jojoba. It looks clinical, but it is simply the standard.

    What the list cannot tell you

    It will not tell you the exact percentage of an active, the pH of the formula, or how the ingredients behave together — all of which matter. A well-formulated product with a modest concentration frequently outperforms a poorly buffered one with an impressive number on the label.

    Read the list to rule things out — a known irritant, an allergen you react to — rather than to rank products against each other.