Think You Know What to Look for in a Sunscreen? Read This.
If you’ve been feeling confused about sunscreen lately, you’re not alone. Between the recent headlines about a new FDA-approved sunscreen ingredient and social media claims about the best types of SPF, it’s getting harder to separate evidence-based facts from influencer-fueled hype.
That’s why we called board-certified dermatologist and clinical associate professor of dermatology at NYU Langone Medical Center, Ellen Gendler, MD. For years, Dr. Gendler has been on a mission to correct misinformation about skin health and disseminate science-backed information about sunscreen on Instagram. We asked her to break down what we need to know about this new sunscreen ingredient, whether mineral sunscreens are better than chemical ones, if those expiration dates on your SPF really matter, and more.
Read on for the facts you need to know to keep your skin safe.
In this article, you’ll learn...
- Why the newly approved sunscreen ingredient is a game-changer and when you’ll start seeing it on store shelves
- The biggest myth people still believe about mineral sunscreen
- How to tell if you’re getting more sun damage than you realize
- The expiration-date rule too many of us have never heard of
- A simple way to dramatically improve your sun protection
A CONVERSATION WITH ELLEN GENDLER, MD
Sunscreen has been in the news thanks to the FDA approval of bemotrizinol. What do we need to know?
Bemotrizinol, which also goes by other names including Tinosorb S and Parsol Shield, is a very good broad-spectrum sunscreen. It covers a broader spectrum of ultraviolet A (or UVA, known as the tanning rays) than the currently approved ingredient you’ll find in chemical sunscreens here in the U.S., which is called avobenzone. Bemotrizinol also protects against ultraviolet B (or UVB, the ultraviolet rays that burn your skin).
Until the recent FDA approval of bemotrizinol, the only approved chemical sunscreen ingredient that shields against UVA rays in the U.S. was avobenzone, which covers only a limited range of UVA. This is why even if you use a broad-spectrum sunscreen made in the U.S., you’ll likely still get tan. It’s because your UVA protection isn’t protecting you from the full gamut of UVA wavelengths, which penetrate deeper than UVB and contribute more in the long run to skin aging and to the formation of pre-cancers and skin cancers.
Not only is bemotrizinol a better ingredient that covers more of the UVA spectrum than avobenzone, but it’s also very well tolerated on skin and has properties that make it very elegant when it’s put into a sunscreen formulation.
Any sense of when we’ll start seeing bemotrizinol in sunscreen sold here in the U.S.? And what should consumers look for?
Bemotrizinol is allowed to be used starting in August 2026. This means we will not see any sunscreens with this ingredient before August, and it’ll probably take even longer than that because the sunscreen companies have to play around with the formulation. My guess is that many companies have already been playing with it, getting the kinks worked out, so they could be ready to release as soon as the approval takes place.
I imagine that all the companies that start including bemotrizinol in their formulations will advertise that on their packaging. After August 2026, you can start looking for Parsol Shield on the packaging.
There’s still so much confusion about the difference between chemical and mineral sunscreens and which is better. What do you wish more of us would know about this?
There are two different types of sunscreens: mineral and chemical. Mineral sunscreens include ingredients like zinc oxide and titanium dioxide; chemical sunscreens here in the U.S. include ingredients such as avobenzone, octinoxate, octisalate, homosalate, and many others. The newly FDA-approved sunscreen ingredient, bemotrizinol, will be in chemical sunscreens.
Mineral sunscreens don’t work very differently from chemical sunscreens. All sunscreens absorb ultraviolet light and dissipate it as heat to take the effects off the skin, and they work by reflecting some light as well. However, while mineral sunscreens protect against both UVA and UVB rays, they’re not as effective as good chemical sunscreens unless they are somewhat thick and chalky.
We continue to see a lot of sunscreen misinformation on social media. Is there a sunscreen myth you spend the most time correcting right now among your patients and on social media?
The biggest myth is that mineral sunscreens are better than chemical sunscreens. They are not.
Many people—even dermatologists—continue to believe that mineral sunscreens are sun blocks, meaning they completely block the sun. This is not true. Mineral sunscreens work by absorbing ultraviolet light just like chemical sunscreens do, though sometimes they can reflect UV rays also to some degree.
There is also a subset of people who think that mineral sunscreens are “natural,” but they’re not. These are often the same people who think that chemical sunscreen is toxic. It is not.
One benefit of mineral sunscreens, in my opinion, is that for the most part they are formulated with fewer ingredients than chemical sunscreens. For people who have sensitive skin, the fewer ingredients there are in a sunscreen, the less likely you may be to have a reaction.
But in general, good chemical sunscreens far surpass mineral sunscreens.
Why is it important to pay attention to sunscreen expiration dates?
Sunscreen becomes less effective over time because the ingredients start to degrade. If you use a sunscreen past its expiration date, all bets are off. It may not be totally ineffective, but it’ll certainly be less effective than it’s meant to be.
What you need to also know—and this is important—is that even if a sunscreen’s expiration date is two years after you buy it, it’s generally effective for 12 months after it’s been opened. This means that if you open a sunscreen in June 2026 and the expiration date is in 2028, you should discard it in June 2027.
How much sunscreen should we be applying for adequate coverage?
There’s a rule that if you squeeze sunscreen along the length of two fingers, that should be enough for your face and neck. But nobody ever puts that much on. And this also depends on the size of your fingers and your face. I typically say do the best you can; put enough sunscreen on that your face and neck feel completely covered.
The best way to protect the rest of your body is sun protective clothing. People don’t love applying and reapplying sunscreen on their bodies because they say it’s greasy. It is kind of greasy. And if you start to sweat or swim and then towel off, you’re wiping off that sunscreen. Sun protective clothing gives you the best chances of adequate coverage.
Overall, the most important message is to be mindful. Use the best products you can. Reapply frequently. Now that we have another really good sunscreen ingredient, more people—even in their lackadaisical sunscreen application—are going to be better off than before.
Dr. Ellen Gendler is a board-certified dermatologist in New York City and clinical associate professor of dermatology at NYU Langone Medical Center. To learn more, visit this website or follow Dr. Gendler on Instagram.
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