What is TITANIUM DIOXIDE and what does it do?

Role: Mineral UV filter

Family: Mineral UV filter UVB, SHORT UVA, LONG UVA

Comedogenic index: 0

Titanium dioxide is one of two physical sunscreens or inorganic sunscreens.
Traditionally, UV filters are divided into two categories: organic and physical.

The difference between organic and physical solar filters
The big difference is supposed to be that chemical agents absorb UV light, while physical agents reflect it like a multitude of mini-umbrellas on the skin. While this categorization is easy and logical, it turns out not to be entirely accurate. A recent study from 2016 shows that inorganic sunscreens work mainly by absorption, just like chemical filters, and only a little by reflection (they reflect light in the visible spectrum, but absorb mainly in the UV spectrum).

In any case, whether it reflects or absorbs, titanium dioxide is a pretty impressive sunscreen agent for two main reasons: it offers excellent broad-spectrum coverage, and it's very stable. Its protection is most effective between 290 and 350 nm (UVB and UVA II range), and least effective between 350 and 400 nm (UVA I range). Regular-sized titanium dioxide also has an excellent safety profile, is non-irritating to the skin and is virtually problem-free.

Disadvantages of TITANIUM DIOXIDE
The disadvantage of titanium dioxide is that it is not aesthetically elegant, which means it is white and difficult to spread. Sunscreens containing titanium dioxide are often difficult to apply to the skin and leave an annoying whitish tint. The cosmetics industry is of course working hard to solve this problem, and the best solution to date is the use of nanoparticles. Microscopic nanoparticles both improve spreadability and significantly reduce the whitish tint, but unfortunately they also introduce new health concerns.

Nanoparticles= Danger?
The main concern with nanoparticles is that they are so small that they could be absorbed by the skin more than we would like, and once absorbed, they could form undesirable reactions with proteins and promote the formation of free radicals.

Find out more about "Inci" cosmetic ingredients