Hi, my name is Weilan Johnson, and I'm a board-certified dermatologist for U.S. Dermatology Partners. Today I’m going to talk to you about the differences between physical and chemical sunscreens.
Physical sunscreens are the ones that have active ingredients that you can pronounce. For example, zinc or titanium dioxide.
These sunscreens work by providing a physical barrier to the UV light coming in touch with your skin. If UV light is coming towards your skin the physical blockers will then reflect the UV light off your skin so that it does not come into contact your with your skin and damage it.
These are as opposed to the chemical sunscreens. I like to tell people that chemical sunscreens have active ingredients that are very difficult to pronounce. For example, octanoxinate, octacrylene.
These chemical sunscreens are ones that work by sitting on top of your skin and as the UV light comes and approaches your skin it chemically changes that UV light and so that it absorbs the chemicals absorb that UV light so it does not get through the chemical and damage your skin.
There's a little bit of heat released in that chemical process so that the chemical sunscreens the advantages of them as are that they rub in well so that and they rub in very transparently. They're generally light and you can apply makeup on top. However, one of the downsides is that because of that heat that's released in that chemical process it may not be as good for patients that have that react to heat. For example, if you have a tendency towards having redness or rosacea on your face it may not be the best option for you. They also can tend to be a little bit irritating, so if you're prone to rashes on the eyelids or the face the chemical sunscreens are generally not as good of an option and we recommend the physical sunscreens in that instance.
The physical sunscreens are great for our babies that are less than a year old. Greater than six months is usually when we recommend the physical sunscreens and they're also great for patients that have sensitive skin or that have a tendency towards rosacea or redness on their face.
If you're interested in purchasing any of the chemical or physical sunscreens you can visit our online store at DermSkincare.com.