We have been talking a lot about visible light and skin lately, especially with increased screen time, so what’s the deal with tinted sunscreen? We all know that sunscreen is super important (I’ve written about my favorite sunscreens before here and debunked sunscreen myths here) I’ve been looking into the science behind it and wanted to break down a recent article for you.
Last month a JDD article by pigmentary expert @drpearlgrimes tested the ability of iron oxide (the pigment that gives tinted sunscreens that color) to block visible light using instrumental and in vivo measurements.
Let’s look at the in vivo results. A non-tinted mineral SPF 50 sunscreen and three sunscreen makeup products with varying concentrations of iron oxide were applied to the upper backs of 10 subjects with Fitzpatrick type 4 skin. The areas were irradiated using a filtered light source that produced 90% visible light, and the tested skin areas were evaluated by clinical grading and a chromameter, for pigmentation for 2 weeks.
They found that repeated exposure to visible light on bare skin and non tinted mineral SPF 50 produced significant lasting visible pigmentation.
The skin that had the tinted SPF products were significantly less pigmented by both instrumental and clinical grading evaluations.
Interestingly there was no statistical difference in anti pigment effect between varying concentrations of iron oxide.
We definitely need more studies to be done involving more subjects and different types of skin, but I believe that tinted sunscreens are helpful to protect against pigmentation from visible light, ESPECIALLY if you have darker skin tones or if you are prone to hyperpigmentation. I personally use tinted mineral sunscreens because the tint doubles as foundation too, and you know I’m all about multitasking!
I also want to know: what concentration of iron oxide is needed to provide anti pigment benefits? In this study 4.85% iron oxide performed as well as product with 27.25%. It would be helpful if sunscreen brands can list the percentage of iron oxide so consumers can choose ones that actually work.
Do you use tinted sunscreens? What’s your favorite brand?
s :) says
i was also wondering; they used high coverage foundations with high percentage of iron oxides and the percentage seems to affect the color of the foundation (4.85% light, 13.30% medium & 27.25% dark), so the percentage is about the amount of pigment in the foundation formula, but how about in sunscreens and tinted moisturizers? the percentage of iron oxides in sunscreen is usually about the amount of it in the forumla (coverage), so let’s say there’s 5% in suncreen formulation, would that mean that the pigment would be very light in color or not as intense (high coverage) as in foundation? would i have to wear a high coverage sunscreen or the coverage doesn’t have to be as high as the foundation? i’m sorry if it’s confusing i just don’t really know how to explain it well :/
Joyce says
Hi S, I haven’t seen % of iron oxides being listed in tinted sunscreens, so you bring up a great point about how we DON’T KNOW just how much iron oxide is in each sunscreen. Unfortunately this information is not readily available. I do not use an additional sunscreen or additional tinted product on top of my tinted sunscreen at this time.