The Truth About Sunscreen: It’s Only 53% Effective

We rely on sunscreen to protect us from sunburn and premature ageing, but did you know that even if you apply sun protection daily, you are not entirely safe? A 2012 study found that even SPF 50 only stops about half of the potential sun damage that causes photo-aging.

After all the decades of effort teaching humans the importance of, at the very least, wearing sunscreen every day, we’re faced with a harsh truth: Even sunscreen is not enough. This is according to a much-quoted study by Haywood R., Volkov A. et al. in 2012. Moreover, it suggests that even antioxidants aren’t as effective as we once assumed.

What the study found

Although you should most definitely still wear sunscreen every day, winter or summer, sunscreen alone cannot halt the entire range of sun damage your skin is exposed to daily.

In short, during thorough and controlled testing, the scientists in this study showed that SPF 50 and antioxidants block only a percentage of the damage from the sun.

Here’s a look at each of the five wavelengths of UV light (sunlight), how it affects your body, and how effective sunscreen is at protecting against it:

1. UVC

This is (technically) the most dangerous type of UV light, but thankfully, our atmosphere absorbs it, so we don’t come into contact with it on Earth. And that’s a good thing because UVC would kill you very quickly.

·        Wavelength: 200–280 nm (nanometre)

·        Effects on skin: Devastating, deadly – but thankfully absorbed by the earth’s atmosphere

·        Does SPF work? Organic sunscreens: No. Inorganic sunscreens: No. Zinc and titanium: No. Iron oxide: Protects form 90% – 97% of this frequency.

·        Do antioxidants work? No

Lamelle Helase mops up the damage with TRPV1 inhibition, and DNA-correcting enzymes. Just in case you are exposed to some UVC and early UVB causes the same potential damage.

2. UVB

This type of UV light is most associated with pain and sunburn, and SPF is good at keeping it at bay. This frequency also causes direct DNA damage to the cells causing, what could be, devastating dimers. Your body does have a process of finding and correcting this damage called NER, sun exposure however sun exposure limits the energy that the cel has to perform this process.  

·        Wavelength: 280–320 nm

·        Effects on skin: Sunburn, DNA damage and oxidative damage to DNA and molecules

·        Does SPF work? Organic sunscreens: Yes. Inorganic sunscreens: Yes. Zinc and titanium: Yes. Iron oxide: Yes (96% of this frequency).

·        Do antioxidants work? No

Lamelle Helase mops up the damage with TRPV1 inhibition and supplements NER with Photolyase DNA correction.  

3. UVA

This type of UV is most associated with skin ageing because regular broad-spectrum SPF starts to fail here. From here on out, UV light tends to cause devastating DNA damage known as dimers, which the human body cannot fix on its own because of a missing protein in the human body.

·        Wavelength: 320–400 nm

·        Effects on skin: DNA damage, mutation and cancer due to oxidative damage to DNA and molecules, as well as immune suppression

·        Does SPF work? Organic sunscreen: 53%. Inorganic sunscreens, zinc and titanium: +/- 50%. Iron oxide: 85 – 95% depending on the colours used (96% - 99%).

·        Do antioxidants work? No

Lamelle Helase mops up the damage with super antioxidants and supplements to bodies ability to find and fix DNA damage with the OGG-1 enzyme.

4. Visible light

One of the most overlooked, and therefore most dangerous, types of UV light is the radiation in the visible spectrum. Sunscreen affords no protection against it, and it suppresses the immune system and causes free radicals to form. Our best defence against visible light is antioxidants, which are only about 54% effective.

·        Wavelength: 400–700 nm

·        Effects on skin: Photo-ageing, mutation, and cancer due to DNA damage, oxidative damage to DNA and molecules, as well as immune suppression

·        Does SPF work? Inorganic sunscreens: No, though there is some development at foot to get to the blue light spectrum. Organic sunscreens: Yes. Iron oxide: Yes, between 51% and 98% depending on what colour combination is chosen (91 – 97%).

·        Do antioxidants work? Only 54%

Lamelle Helase mops up the damage by means of Pycnogenol (which lowers enzymes), super antioxidants, OGG1 DNA-correcting enzymes.

5. Infrared light

And, of course, the invisible infrared light spectrum also affects us adversely. Infrared light from the sun causes severe oxidative stress (when free radicals ravage the DNA and body, leading to mutations) and is the most common cause of hyperpigmentation. Unfortunately, SPF 50 doesn’t help at all here. And, when SPF is combined with antioxidants, you get only 56% protection.

·        Wavelength: 700nm–1mm (1 million nanometres)

·        Effects on skin: Photo-ageing, hyperpigmentation, inflammation and oxidative damage to DNA and molecules.

·        Does SPF work? No

·        Do antioxidants work? Only 56%

Lamelle Helase mops up the damage caused by this frequency with anti-inflammatory Pycnogenol and Aryl hydrocarbon receptor inhibition. 

 Is there any way of getting 100% protection?

SPF and antioxidants are only around 50% effective because sunlight inhibits your body’s 80GG-1-enzyme production, which is vital for the body’s inherent DNA-damage-correcting NER systems.

So, to get 100% protection, you’d need a single product that contains all of these:

·        SPF 50+

·        Antioxidants

·        80GG-1 enzyme, to replenish your body’s supply and help it find and fix indirect DNA damage caused by free-radicals

·        Photolyase, an enzyme capable of correcting direct DNA dimers caused by the UV frequencies of light and supplement your skin's natural processes of NER.

·        TRPV1 inhibition

·        Ahr inhibition

·        Anti-inflammatory ingredients

Good news: That product exists. Lamelle Research Laboratories’ Helase 50+ was the first product in South Africa to contain SPF 50 and antioxidants for skin and DNA protection, as well as 80GG-1 and the revolutionary photolyase enzyme for repairing skin DNA (including dimers), even after the damage has already taken place. In addition Helase Urban Defence and the Helase Tint range as also formulated containing this technology. 

This means that not only is your skin protected while you wear them, but they can also help repair or mop up some of the damage that has already been done.

Lamelle’s Helase range, including the Photo Repair Tint 50+, protects against the full spectrum of sunlight, while the super antioxidant Pycnogenol destroys harmful free radicals to decrease the number of harmful enzymes that cause thinning and sagging of the skin. It also decreases the damaging and ageing inflammation in the skin while actively stopping the effects of ageing on the skin and keeping the skin's immunity intact when exposed to sunlight.

In short, it’s the ultimate upgrade from your regular, everyday SPF 50, and one that everyone can benefit from this summer and beyond.

Learn more at www.lamelle.co.za