What's the Deal with Sunscreen?

The Polymath, a Roastie, and the "Good Plan", which of course includes AYA Balm.

I have always loved the term "misspent youth", and I love the story behind it even more. The origin of the initial quote needs further investigation. Still, it was popularised as a cultural catchphrase by Herbert Spencer, who made the wry remark after being thoroughly beaten at billiards by an incredibly skilful young man. Herbert went on to suggest the young man's time and energy would have been better spent on more intellectual or serious endeavours. For context, Herbert Spencer was a polymath, which basically means a person who knows a lot about many different things and makes insightful connections to solve problems. This term has been around for well over 500 years, and I am not always sure I should be as pleased as I am when I say I have a misspent youth, and yes, I will get the natural skincare point.

In my happy and indulged misspent youth, I spent one night behaving like a wild thing out on the town. When I woke up the next day, I had to scramble to pick up my sister from the airport on time. In the mayhem, I fell over a trolley and literally fell on the bridge of my nose, ending up with a huge roastie. Of course, being a highly intelligent twenty-year-old, I went out in the sun a few days after the scab had peeled, without sunscreen, and got a horrific sunburn, and the area of my roastie was permanently marked. Only with the creation of AYA Balm, some 20-odd years later, have I managed to reverse the sun damage and resultant pigmentation. 

This whole episode in my life taught me a very valuable lesson: at no point should you mess around in the sun without a good plan, which led me to wonder about sunscreen and its role in our lives. You have so many conflicting positions and challenges, and for me, it is time to explore them. Firstly, what are the challenges with it that everyone gets tense about? What is the environmental impact, and are there actually any viable alternatives out there?

The Core Principle: Absorption vs. Non-Absorption

Getting a handle on the big issues helped a lot to understand the core principles of how sunscreens work. Bottom line, it is about absorption or non-absorption.

• Absorption is the chemical filter (or organic filter).

• Non-absorption is the mineral filter (or inorganic filter).

Traditionally, it was all about absorption. Sunscreens were based mainly on chemical filters, ironically known as organic filters, which are actually organic chemistry! That is a huge unpack coming to a blog near you!  Context, as always, is so important,

even more so when it is factual!  In the context of sunscreen, the term "organic" is used according to the scientific definition in organic chemistry, not "organic" as in clean, natural, or pesticide-free farming, as we use it today for organic food or organic skincare.

Chemical filters or  organic filters contain carbon-based compounds (like oxybenzone, avobenzone, and octinoxate) that are absorbed into the skin. They absorb UV radiation and convert it into a small, non-damaging amount of heat, which is then released from the skin. Just to be completely transparent, “chemicals” is a broad term. There is absolutely no doubt that there are necessary and valuable chemicals, and then there are the others! I mean, you can literally build a bomb with chemicals.

Non-absorption uses mineral filters, called inorganic or physical filters, that sit on the skin's surface, creating a physical barrier that primarily reflects and scatters UV radiation away from the skin. mineral compounds (like Zinc Oxide and Titanium Dioxide) are used, and they sit on the skin's surface, creating a physical barrier that primarily reflects and scatters UV radiation away from the skin.

A History of Combined Protection

What I love about all these different topics is that there is a history and a story, and history is all about the story. Since the beginning, as we recorded it, ancient civilisations have used mineral filters like Zinc Oxide for protection. The earliest mention is found in an Ancient Egyptian Papyrus, discovered between the legs of a mummy in a tomb in Luxor, bought by a local and sold on via a trader to an American and then a German, Georg Ebers, who translated it. Proof that Globalisation was happening way back when.

For AYA Natural Skin, we are fascinated by the many magical formulas and remedies found in the Ebers Papyrus. They cover everything from dentistry and gynaecology to psychiatry and, of course, skin ailments. What this shows us is that from the outset, the Egyptians were practising a combined approach. Recipes for pastes and salves used to improve complexion and protect from sun damage contained mineral compounds (like ochres and forms of Zinc Oxide) for physical reflection alongside plant-based extracts (like lupine and rice bran, which contain photo-protective organic chemistry).

Then there was the grand detour, with chemical (organic) filters dominating, as they seemed to do the job while letting us still look good. However, in the 2010s, there was a shift towards mineral filters because we began to understand the damage that purely chemical filters were causing. And that is where we are now with the four challenges facing us today.

The Sunscreen Showdown: Four Core Challenges

1. The Chemical Filter Controversy: Systemic Uptake and Safety

This is all about the primary ingredients used in sunscreens. Studies have confirmed that certain chemical UV filters, most notably Oxybenzone and Avobenzone, are absorbed into the bloodstream. They have been flagged as endocrine disruptors, meaning they may interfere with the body's delicate hormone system.  South Africa has not banned oxybenzone or avobenzone, and both are permitted for use in sunscreens, subject to specific concentration limits and labelling requirements set by the national standards and regulatory bodies, which means we need these regulatory bodies in South Africa to keep a handle on it.

2. The Mineral Filter Challenge: The Aesthetic Barrier (White Cast)

While the mineral filters are largely immune to the absorption controversy, they present a user aesthetic issue that affects public health.: Physical blockers like Zinc Oxide and Titanium Dioxide are, by nature, thick, white powders. When applied to the skin, they leave a visible, often heavy, white cast. This creates an

aesthetic barrier: when a product is cosmetically unpleasant, people won't use it, thereby compromising sun safety. It is only the young kids, or older adults, like myself, who couldn't care less about this. When you're younger, you dont know what you don't know, and when you're older, you care enough about what you know. And here it is in a nutshell, the intense market pressure to eliminate the white cast is precisely what led manufacturers to create nanoparticles, subsequently sparking the next major safety challenge.

3. The Mineral Filter Challenge: Nanoparticle Concern

Prevailing scientific evidence suggests non-nano mineral filters do not penetrate the top layer of healthy skin. However, there is the challenge of what the effect is on sun-damaged skin, as well as the as-yet unknown long-term effects of nanoparticles. And here is the crux: at least 80% to 90% of the world's population has some form of sun-damaged skin. Because nothing is ever simple, the main concerns here are driven by two different things: the inherent toxic properties of nanoparticles shown in lab settings, and a widespread consumer mistrust of nanotechnology itself, with the safety debate surrounding the ultra-fine nanoparticles used to reduce the white cast, raising consumer fear about their potential to penetrate past the skin barrier. For us at AYA Natural Skin, the studies that show introducing nanomaterials are similar to what we have done in our past, where the use of asbestos had so many regulatory failures, and that didn't end well.

 4. The Environmental Impact: The Reef Crisis

This is, without a doubt, the most significant challenge, and the resolution to solve it should be completely non-negotiable. The chemical filters Oxybenzone and Octinoxate are the primary environmental villains. When washed off in the ocean, they cause rapid and devastating coral bleaching, damage the DNA of coral larvae, and impair the development of other marine life. This has  led to global legislation, driving the single largest recent shift in the sunscreen market. It has also precipitated outright bans on these specific "reef-toxic" chemicals in places like Hawaii, Palau, and parts of Mexico, forcing the industry to invest heavily in reef-safe mineral formulations.

Viable Alternatives: The Layers of a "Good Plan"

While they don't replace sunscreen entirely, there are three highly effective alternatives that form a "good plan" for sun safety. First and foremost, dont leave the house and go into the sun without a hat, no excuses here. Who doesn't look gorgeous in a sun hat, and in South Africa, we have got this down to a fine art.  Garments with a high UPF (Ultraviolet Protection Factor) rating offer the most reliable form of protection, as it cannot be washed off, we are big fans of this especially on a day when we know its all about beach, sun and way too much sand. For me personally, this is the biggest one, avoiding the sun during peak hours (typically 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) to reduce exposure to the highest-intensity UV radiation. Then finally there is always the fall back of healthy living and finding the right antioxidant support: Incorporating nutrients (like Vitamins C and E) and diet-based carotenoids that help the skin mitigate UV damage and oxidative stress internally.

Summing it all up

My journey, sparked by a youthful "roastie," led me to the polymath’s conclusion: the solution to sun safety is never simple, single-ingredient, or purely chemical. The path forward demands we navigate the complex ethics of systemic absorption, solve the

persistent aesthetic challenge of the white cast, treat the nanoparticle debate with historical caution, and demand solutions that do not contribute to the Reef Crisis. A truly "good plan" needs a lot of choice and planning, and we all know good planning mostly leads to thriving, and that is what we are all after for our skin health.  And an essential element of this plan is never to leave home without your AYA Balm.