PALMER'S COCOA BUTTER LIP BALM - ALLERGIC REACTION

I previously reviewed these products mentioning that I reacted with them and didn't know what it was that I reacted to. [Check out the review here]

I was browsing around on the Livestrong website yesterday and found an article on '7 Surprises About Sunscreens' [It's a good read - you can find it here], and low and behold at point number 5 was "Avoid sunscreens containing Oxybenzone".

But what is Oxybenzone I hear you ask? Until yesterday I had never heard of it either, and this knowledge is going to be very valuable to me for future SPF shopping. 

The point reads: 

"Nearly half of all sunscreens (and many cosmetics) contain oxybenzone. EWG’s Skin Deep Cosmetics Database rates oxybenzone as an “8″ or “high hazard.” According to EWG, this chemical penetrates the skin, gets into the bloodstream and acts like estrogen in the body. It can trigger allergic reactions and health harms including endometriosis in women and low sperm counts in men."

So Palmer's who is quite commonly seen as a fairly natural brand is pumping their SPF products (Yes, it's in all their products which contain an SPF!) with this "high hazard" chemical?! Hmmmm... I have found some of their ingredients in their other products quite questionable before, and I didn't quite understand why they were there... They're are certainly far from natural products. 

I managed to find this fantastic article about the different types of SPFs. If you're interested in further reading about this topic I really recommend you check it out [here].

To summarise some points from the article:

"Chemical sunscreens contain special ingredients that act as filters and reduce ultraviolet radiation penetration to the skin. These sunscreens often are colorless and maintain a thin visible film on the skin. These sunscreens usually contain UVB absorbing chemicals and more recently contain UVA absorbers as well."

Chemical based sunscreens will quite commonly use Oxybenzone as the active ingredient. Example chemical based sunscreen products are: La-Roche-Posay Anthelios XL 50+, Lancome UV Expert and L'oreal UV Perfect. However, there are other chemicals used as active ingredients in chemical based sunscreens, it's not always Oxybenzone. 

I guess I have been lucky to never come across this reaction before. After checking through my regular SPFs I found that these were 'physical sunscreens' which use Zinc Oxide or Titanium Oxide as active SPF ingredients - theses are not good for photography as they cause flashback, however they might be a bit kinder to your skin. Apparently a good way to tell physical sunscreens is by they way they leave a film over the skin, and leave those pesky whitish marks! I will never again get annoyed with you whitish marks!! haha...

Overall, I personally would avoid chemical sunscreens in the future as I know there's a risk of me reacting with them. Also I'm not a great fan of sticking loads of chemicals onto my skin. I feel like my silly sensitive skin does prove useful at times, it's great for detecting bad chemicals!

I hope this helps some people, and also sheds a bit of light on why quite a few people have reacted with these products!

Now I just wish the sun will come out for longer than 2 days! Silly English weather! :)