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What Is The Best Facial Sun Block For Fair Skin While Experiencing Symptoms Of Contact Dermatitis?
Posted on
Sat, 26 Jul 2014
Medically reviewed by
Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team
Sat, 26 Jul 2014
Answered on
Mon, 8 Apr 2024
Last reviewed on
Question : I am very fair and have used dozens of sun blocks but my face always burns no matter what I do. What is the best facial sun block for fair skin?
Brief Answer:
Physical blocker sunscreen
Detailed Answer:
Hello
The irritation after sunscreen use you are developing is called contact dermatitis.
Contact dermatitis after sunscreen use is not uncommon.
There are plenty of ingredients like fragrances, preservatives in a sunscreen that can easily cause irritation.
Most sunscreens contains so many ingredients, its difficult to find the offending chemical. Thus the best option for you is get a special test called patch test done to identify culprit chemical.
Most common ingredients in sunscreen which can cause irritation are PABA ( Para amino benzoic acid, benzophenones, cinnamates, octocrylene, salicylates.
Considering these chemicals in one form or other are used in every sunscreen, I would strictly advise you to avoid them.
Thus the best feasible option left for you is to use pure physical sun blockers. Physical blockers like zinc oxide and titanium dioxide are chemicals that prevent direct interaction of UV light and skin. Since these are large molecules they donot get absorbed inside skin and thus dont provoke any allergy or irritation and thus are safest molecules to use.
Due to large size they leave behind whitish residue on skin and thus are not cosmetically more elegant.
Now-a-days sunscreens with these physical blockers with micro or nano size particles are available to over come that drawback an make them cosmetically more appealing.
In a nutshell, try using pure physical blocker sunscreen to avoid irritation.( Eg Suncross Soft by Ranbaxy)
Hope this was useful.
Let me know if you need any assistance from my side.
Thanks
Dr Hardik Pitroda
Physical blocker sunscreen
Detailed Answer:
Hello
The irritation after sunscreen use you are developing is called contact dermatitis.
Contact dermatitis after sunscreen use is not uncommon.
There are plenty of ingredients like fragrances, preservatives in a sunscreen that can easily cause irritation.
Most sunscreens contains so many ingredients, its difficult to find the offending chemical. Thus the best option for you is get a special test called patch test done to identify culprit chemical.
Most common ingredients in sunscreen which can cause irritation are PABA ( Para amino benzoic acid, benzophenones, cinnamates, octocrylene, salicylates.
Considering these chemicals in one form or other are used in every sunscreen, I would strictly advise you to avoid them.
Thus the best feasible option left for you is to use pure physical sun blockers. Physical blockers like zinc oxide and titanium dioxide are chemicals that prevent direct interaction of UV light and skin. Since these are large molecules they donot get absorbed inside skin and thus dont provoke any allergy or irritation and thus are safest molecules to use.
Due to large size they leave behind whitish residue on skin and thus are not cosmetically more elegant.
Now-a-days sunscreens with these physical blockers with micro or nano size particles are available to over come that drawback an make them cosmetically more appealing.
In a nutshell, try using pure physical blocker sunscreen to avoid irritation.( Eg Suncross Soft by Ranbaxy)
Hope this was useful.
Let me know if you need any assistance from my side.
Thanks
Dr Hardik Pitroda
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Raju A.T
Answered by
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