Top 5 Essential Oils to Avoid in Sunscreen
Top 5 Essential Oils to Avoid in Sunscreen
Sunscreen is your skin’s first line of defense against harmful UV rays, but not all natural ingredients are sun-safe. While essential oils are praised for their therapeutic benefits, some can do more harm than good when used in sun protection products. In this article, we reveal the top 5 essential oils to avoid in sunscreen — and why these popular oils might put your skin at risk.
Yes, having a natural content or nature based ingredients in skincare routine is good because these are ecofriendly, biodegradable as well as skin friendly.
As we all are aware that the best ever self-care we can do for our skin is use sunscreen regularly, it protects from UV rays. Sunscreen containing plant based ingredients increase the SPF of sunscreen and boost sun protection. Along this when you google you will find many essential oils that are advised alternate of sunscreen but the reality is something different, many essential oils are photosensitizers or we can say some essential oils make us prone to photo damage.
And the another important thing is not all essential oils can harm your skin when used in sunscreen but some citrus oils
Here are 5 essential oils that should be avoid in your sunscreen.
Bergamot essential oil, extract from bergamot oranges used in fragrances. it is one of photosensitizer oil. due to its photosensitivity adding bergamot essential oil in skin care products especially in sunscreen is considered a wrong practice by cosmetics industry.it is not to be used in products that are applied on sun exposed skin. Whereas some sunscreens contain bergamot oil to increase skin tanning for future sun
protection by darken your skin.
Lime oil, another offending oil work as photosensitizing and phototoxic agent it contains oxypeucedanin which can result in pigmentation, tanning. as it is strictly advised lime oil should not be used in skincare products to use on sun exposed skin, by cosmetic formulation regulatory bodies. So do not use sunscreen containing lime essential oil.
Next one is turmeric oil, it has healing, anti-inflammatory properties still that it is not ideal ingredient for sunscreen reason behind this is turmeric and its extract are photosensitizers.
Lavender essential oil, often used in sunscreen for its calming effects and fragrance but it also has endocrine disrupting effects, that’s why you should avoid it in long carrying skin care products like sunscreen.
Peppermint oil, it is skin irritant oil and use of peppermint oil in products that left on skin especially in sunscreen is not advisable due to its anti-inflammatory properties.
How we know that the oil is photosensitive or not?
Our “AOS” all essential oils that are photosensitive are labeled. Lemon, lime, grapefruit, bergamot are some of these oils that cause photosensitivity. that’s why always check the label to see cautions are linked with oil you are using.
Way to uses these photosensitive oils or skincare products which contain these oils.
Use at night time, nighttime use or application of products containing photosensitive oils is the best option to reduce the risk.
Cover the area, to reduce reaction and to stop UV rays from entering to your skin you can cover up your exposure body parts or apply these oils to back, lower chest, temple
Follow instructions given on label, it’s a best way to avoid adverse impact of oils, aware the amount of oil you used.
Conclusion
Natural doesn’t always mean safe — especially when it comes to sun exposure. When choosing or formulating sunscreen products, always avoid phototoxic essential oils like bergamot, lavender, lime, peppermint, and angelica root. For optimal safety and sun protection, stick with non-phototoxic essential oils and always wear broad-spectrum sunscreen.
