( 2 reviews )
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( 1 of 1 found this review helpful ) Posted: Jul 24 2007
With the recent discovery's about how extremely damaging the sun's rays are, and by the urging of that speech floating around the internet, I decided to look for a sunscreen. You need to look for a sunscreen that will protect you from both UVB and UVA rays. Most sunscreens already protect you from UVB, 93% of the rays with SPF15 and 97% with SPF30. However, not many sunscreens protect you from the spectrum of UVA rays, the more damaging rays. UVB rays will cause damage to your skin, so we need protection from this to prevent sunburn. UVA rays are much more dangerous, since they penetrate and cause connective tissue damage, aka aging. While most sunscreens take care of a small section of the UVA spectrum, you need to find a sunscreen that filters almost all of the harmful rays, like the protection that we already have from UVB. To do this, a sunscreen needs to have certain chemicals in it, namely avobenzone, zinc oxide, titanium dioxide or Mexoryl SX. Mexoryl SX is the most effective of these, but since it has just been approved by the FDA, is is too expensive in the US, costing $35 per 3.5 oz. Neutrogena is the best choice after that, since it contains avobenzone, the next best chemical, and helioplex, which increases the length of time that the avobenzone remains effective in the sun from 2 hours to a reported 5 hours by resisting the chemical breakdown of avobenzone in contact with the sun's radiation. I would recommend this product for people with normal skin who do not want to spend $10 an oz. If you have sensitive skin, or are looking for sunscreen for your children, then you should go for one of the other two chemicals zinc oxide or titanium dioxide. For most people, the best choice is this sunscreen.
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( 0 of 1 found this review helpful ) Posted: Jul 15 2007
I've got very fair, slightly sensitive and oily skin. I tried this sunblock because I was intrigued by the helioplex technology (whatever it is, is's got a clever name!). Unfortunately, I found the product too thick and somewhat irritating to my skin. I'm not sure whether this is because of the helioplex or whether all very high SPF sunblocks are like this. I usually stick to SPF 30 or sometimes SPF 45 (I love Neutrogena's Ultra Sheer Dry-Touch SPF 45) so maybe it is something to do with high SPF. So, I can't compare it to other sunblocks with the same or higher SPF, but I would say that I definitely prefer Neutrogena's SPF 45 (click here: Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry-Touch Sunblock, SPF 45, 3-Ounce Tubes (Pack of 2))
