How to formulate for sun-protection?
Last update on Jun 9, 2025
In today's world, sun protection is not just for beach days – it is an everyday essential. Incorporating sunscreen into your skin care routine can help prevent premature aging, sunburn, and long-term skin damage, even skin cancer! Sunscreens can be in the form of a lotion, cream, oil, stick, paste, or spray. Broad-spectrum sunscreens help protect against both forms of UV radiation – UVA and UVB.
Let’s find out how sunscreens work and what ingredients are considered safe for the skin.
What is SPF?
Sun protection factor (SPF ) is a measure of how much solar energy (UV radiation) is required to produce sunburn on protected skin (i.e., in the presence of sunscreen) relative to the amount of solar energy required to produce sunburn on unprotected skin. As the SPF value increases, sunburn protection increases1. Higher SPF values (up to 50) provide greater sunburn protection.
Formulation strategies
- (2017). Sun Protection Factor (SPF). U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
- (2025). Sunscreen: How to Help Protect Your Skin from the Sun. U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
- (2023). Which Ingredients In Sunscreen Work Best?. SkinQ.
- Charan. (n.d). Stay safe in the sun: Top sunscreen ingredients to avoid. The Beauty Gypsy.
- Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane. SpecialChem
- Ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate. SpecialChem