The European Commission has adopted, on 22 September 2006, a new Recommendation on the efficacy of sunscreen products and the claims made relating thereto. It is a significant change, especially in the following aspects:
1- Sunscreen products should protect against UVA and UVB radiation at the proportion of 1/3. Moreover, in order to ensure a broad protection, it is recommended a critical wavelength of at least 370 nm.
2- The indication of the efficacy of sunscreen products should be simple, unambiguous and meaningful and based on standardised, reproducible criteria; The following categories are recommended : “Low”, “medium”, “high” and “very high” protection. The category should be labelled at least as prominently as the SPF. The new minimum SPF is 6.
3- Claims which should not be made in relation to sunscreen products: 100% protection from UV radiation (such as “sunblock” or “total protection”) and “all day prevention”.
4- Sunscreen products should display warnings indicating that they do not provide 100% protection such as: “do not stay too long in the sun, even while using a sunscreen product” or “over-exposure to the skin is a serious health threat”.
5-Sunscreen products should carry instructions for the product that will ensure that the claim made for the effectiveness of the product can be achieved. This may include instructions such as “apply the sunscreen product before exposure”.
The full text is available here
In response to this recommendation, Laboratorios Magriña S.L. has developed a new range of sun care formulas which meet the new requirements. Moreover, the new bases and textures are significantly attractive as they combine the concept of safe product (with efficient protection) with comfortable and pleasant application.
Beyond sun protection, the new range is a new sunscreen formulation concept called Global Defence System. This is significantly important nowadays due to the increasing health risks and concerns caused by climate change. According to this concept the new range has in common an innovative lipidic ingredient obtained from brown algae, also called “golden seaweed”.
This golden seaweed suffers an important stress exposure due to salinity, emersion/immersion and strong solar radiation variations. For this reason it is specially reach in lipidic fraction, a real natural defence system, which includes phosphatidylcholine, alpha lipoic acid derivatives and vitamins A and E. It is these lipids that enable the algae membranes to resist the oxidative stress encountered during photosynthesis and exposure to excessive sunlight. These lipids are associated with the remarkable skin protection.
An additional benefit is its ability to help refill the lipid barrier and optimise the moisture content of the epidermis, which means having a smoother and more supple skin.
The new range consist of a wide variety of textures covering all sun protection factors according to the new recommendation:
|
Labelled category |
Labelled SPF |
Measured SPF |
New formulas available |
|
Low protection |
6 |
6-9,9 |
Cream, Fluid emulsion |
|
10 |
10-14,9 |
Cream-gel, spray |
|
|
Medium protection |
15 |
15-19,9 |
Sun oil |
|
20 |
20-24,9 |
Cream, Fluid emulsion, Shake-well emulsion |
|
|
25 |
25-29,9 |
Spray |
|
|
High protection |
30 |
30-39,9 |
Cream, Fluid emulsion |
|
50 |
50-59,9 |
Fluid emulsion, Ecocert emulsion |
|
|
Very high protection |
50+ |
>= 60 |
Emulsion |
In order to ensure the safety and a quicker launch in the market, the formulas are supported by the following documentation:
– SPF test in 5 volunteers
– Tolerance test (single patch test)
– Theoretical calculation of UVA / UVB balance as well as critical wavelength.
In addition to the range of sun care formulas we remind that, available, there are after-suns and selftanning formulas.
