Sun News: New Sunscreens Maybe, Possibly Will Get FDA Approval

Allure Daily Beauty Reporter

by Elizabeth Siegel

Getty Images
Getty Images

Here's some light reading for the beach: The Washington Post recently reported that eight sunscreen ingredients have been on the FDA's docket awaiting approval for years, and the agency hasn't approved a new ingredient since 1999. Talk about red tape, right?


See more: Find the Best Haircut for Your Face Shape

OK, so what does that mean? For one thing, it most definitely does not mean that there's anything wrong with the sunscreen you're using (you should definitely keep using it). But many sunscreen ingredients protect against UV rays in slightly different ways, and so the more ingredients you can mix together, the more effective you can make any sunscreen, says Steven Q. Wang, director of dermatologic surgery and dermatology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering in New York City.

See more: The 10 Best Drugstore Anti-aging Products

Plus, the SPF factor on any bottle of sunscreen only measures the degree of protection against UVB rays (the kind that burn skin). It doesn't say anything about how well the sunscreen protects against UVA rays (the kind that cause skin cancer and wrinkles). "Two sunscreen ingredients already available in Europe, called Tinosorb and Mexoryl SX, provide slightly better broad-spectrum protection than ones we currently have in the U.S.," says Darrell S. Rigel, a dermatologist in New York City. "They're on the FDA's fast track and will hopefully receive FDA approval within the next year." So it's not all bad news...

More from Allure:
The 13 Prettiest Date-Night Hairstyles
34 Hair Ideas for 2014
50 Beauty Products to Try Before You Die
Celebrity Hairstyles That Will Make You Look 10 Years Younger