U.S. consumers don’t have access to the most advanced sun protection... in fact, nothing new has been approved since the 1970’s!! ( except for ONE @larocheposayusa product SPF15 , L’Oréal revitalift 15, Lancôme 20) European regulators have a reputation for being more cautious about human exposure to chemicals than their U.S. counterparts , and allow many more sunscreens. The European Union maintains a list of 27 sunscreen molecules, which, like the FDA-approved sunscreens, are subject to safety testing and maximum dosage restrictions. The US has approved 16 but only 8 are used because some are cosmetically unacceptable. One unused sunscreen, dioxybenzone, turns skin blue on UV exposure. . Of the 8 approved, only 2 have UVA protection, Avobenzone and zinc oxide. The Sunscreen Innovation Act, signed into law by President Barack Obama at the end of November 2014, was supposed to help end the U.S. sunscreen drought. The law directed FDA to review applications for the eight European sunscreen molecules: amiloxate, bemotrizinol, bisoctrizole, drometrizole trisiloxane ( Mexoryl XL), ecamsule (mexoryl SX) , enzacamene, iscotrizinol, and octyl triazone. So when you see dermatologists reading ingredients of sunscreen... we are really looking at % for either/or avobenzone , zinc oxide , or ecamsule (approved in few L’oreal/larocheposey/Lancôme under trade name Mexoryl SX) for UVA. (Not XL) . So what happened? All 8 ingredients that have been approved by EU cosmetic standards with past studies were rejected since the studies weren’t in the US with drug standards. 🤷🏼‍♀️Now patents are running out and it’s looking pretty dismal . . We deserve better. We should demand more. . . What are your favorite non US sunscreens ? . #sunscreen #sunscreenislife #sunprotection #sunprotectiveclothing #hats #visors #dermatologist #koreanskincare #europeansunscreen #fdaapproval #koreansunscreens @larocheposayusa @lorealusa