Chemical vs. mineral sunblock

I can’t stress enough how important it is for your overall health and skin to wear sunblock.  We all know it but do you know the difference between chemical vs. mineral sunblock?

Sun damage

We may not be able to see if with the ‘naked’ eye, but when we don’t wear sunscreen, we are damaging our skin.  This paves the way for wrinkles, age spots, and skin cancer.

It would be wonderful if our parents stressed this #1 important skin care routine at a young age but unfortunately, this wasn’t the case for most people.  My parents rarely even mentioned it and truly, I think it’s because they themselves had no idea how much damage the sun could do.

We thought getting ‘a little sun’ made us look healthy.  Little did we know it has the opposite effect, especially long term.  If you want your skin to look beautiful, stop the sun damage and start wearing sunscreen.  Also wearing clothing that blocks the damaging UV rays is important.  My favorite is this turtle sun shirt.  It has an SPF of 30, which is great!

UV rays

UV rays are very detrimental to our skin.  It hurts our elastic skin, causing sagginess and could lead to skin that has a harder time healing when wounded like from cuts or even bruising.  Plus, UV causes melanin to make more pigment (which is the ‘suntan’ glow many are seeking) but the more melanin that’s made, the more sun spots – AKA age spots.  These are not something you want!

If neither of those alarm you, the skin cancer that you can get should.  So, always using sunscreen is important, especially your face – no matter if it’s a cloudy day or super sunny.

But, what kind of sunblock should you use?

Chemical vs. mineral sunblock

This is a valid question – chemical vs. mineral sunblock.  There are so many different choices out there that it can be confusing.  I used to buy whatever was cheapest and I guess while something is better than nothing, I soon realized that cheaper wasn’t always better – as with most things!

Mineral sunblock

These products main ingredient is titanium dioxide or zinc oxide.  Mineral blocks are a barrier on your skin that don’t allow the UV rays to penetrate.  Sometimes you’ll hear these called physical sunscreen.  It’s kind of the reason why they may give a white tint to the skin.  It’s also the reason why some people stay away from these because they sit on your skin and make you look as if you painted white paint all over you.  Still, these are actually better than the chemical sunblock, which we’ll get to next.

Physical vs. Chemical sunscreen

These products contain artificial ingredients, and many are really bad for you.  Watch for:

• Oxybenzone
• Avobenzone
• Octinoxate
• Homosalate

The difference between mineral vs. chemical spf is that the ingredients will block all that UV rays and deflect them away from you.  Further, the chemical ones are easier to apply, and you don’t have the same whitish tint problem.

So, that’s the difference between mineral sunscreen and the chemical version.  Whatever you call it:  chemical vs. mineral sunblock, mineral sunscreen vs. regular or physical vs. chemical, it’s very important to actually apply them.  My choice will always be the mineral type over the other but wearing one is half the battle.  Trust me on sunscreen – it can save your life!

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