Category Archives: beauty and cosmetics

Reformulated body wash from Dove first nano-enabled product (in the US ) for boosting skin moisture.

Dove (a Unilever brand) claims that nanotechnology is involved but i can’t find anything other than the declaration. From a February 7, 2023 article by Julia Wray on cosmeticsbusiness.com,

A newly reformulated body wash from Dove is the first product of its kind in the US using nanotechnology to boost skin moisture.

The proprietary technology for Dove Body Wash featuring 24-hour Renewing MicroMoisture [emphasis mine] claims to nourish skin via millions of tiny droplets, which deposit onto the skin, fitting into cracks and crevices of dry skin for a smooth finish.

Stearic and palmitic fatty acids are said to penetrate deeply within the stratum corneum to visibly reduce dryness by 50% after each shower.

The new formula is accompanied by the Unilever brand’s first pack update in 17 years.

There’s the microscale (millionth) and the nanoscale (billionth)—not the same thing.

A February 22, 2023 Dove Canada news release provides a Canadian flavour to the news,

Today [February 22, 2023], Dove announces the latest advance in superior moisturization with the launch of NEW Dove Body Wash featuring 24-hour Renewing MicroMoisture. The new formula is powered by proprietary nano technology to actively generate the skin’s moisture, and has a new look to match, with a modern, user-friendly bottle design that reflects the first upgrade to Dove’s iconic bottle pack in 17 years.

Dove’s new formula continuously nourishes skin and improves its moisture barrier for a full 24 hours as well as uses proprietary technology with millions of moisturizing microdroplets to help boost and retain moisture. These tiny droplets deposit onto the skin, fitting into the gaps and crevices of dry skin for a silky-smooth finish, while stearic and palmitic fatty acids with Dove’s moisturizing blend penetrate deeply within the stratum corneum to visibly reduce dryness by 50% after every shower.

To accompany the new formula, Dove worked with leading cutting-edge designers and technicians to create the first upgrade to the iconic pack in 17 years – a beautiful bottle to match the skin it cares for. Long-time Dove users will recognize the coloured cap, representing their tried-and-true favourites, while the discreetly curved oval-shaped lid is a nod to where it all began for Dove – the Dove Beauty Bar. The Body Wash’s shower-friendly design not only means it is easy to use, but you can hold it, flip the cap, and dispense the body wash with just one hand. The bottle has even been crafted to allow it to be inverted on your bathroom shelves when it gets low and the cap can be completely removed, so it’s moisturizing to the last drop.

“Just like our bodies adapt and change as we move through life, so do our skincare preferences. Dove is continuing to understand these new changes through innovation and research.” says Rishabh Gandhi, Personal Care Director, Unilever Canada. “We are so thrilled to be launching our new Body Wash that accommodates all skincare needs by delivering the best in hydration while improving moisture barriers.”

To kick-off the Change is Beautiful pop-up [held Feb. 25 -26, 2023], Dove has partnered with iconic Canadian actress, Annie Murphy, [emphasis mine] to launch the new Dove body wash collection. Annie is best known for her starring role as Alexis Rose in the CBC sitcom Schitt’s Creek. “We’re born with skin (hopefully), the skin grows and changes (hopefully), and the growing and changing means we’re human (hopefully). Change is something I’m working on leaning into, instead of fighting against.” says Annie Murphy. “Dove puts a lot of consideration into everything they do, so I’m happy to be a part of their campaign that cares for our changing skin.”

I wasn’t able to find any specific references to nanotechnology and research on either the Dove or Unilever websites but I did find this July 12, 2022 Unilever news release “Research unlocks the secret to helping dry skin heal itself,” which offers some insight into the company’s research,

Cutting-edge research by Unilever scientists could unlock a new generation of personal care products to support our skin’s barrier.

For anyone who’s interested in nanotechnology and skincare, I found this historical perspective (link to article and citation follow the excerpt), Note: Links in excerpt have been removed,

Cosmetics include a wide range of products, mainly designed for external use and intended to cleanse, perfume, change the appearance of, correct odors emanating from, or more generally keep in good condition the areas of the body to which they are applied [1]. As a consequence of globalization, the role of these products is rapidly evolving and their use has been increasingly considered to be an essential part of personal wellness [2,3]. The improved life expectancy that has developed alongside the evolution of beauty standards has greatly changed consumer perceptions of routine daily care, which is no longer restricted to basic products (e.g., toothpaste, soap). Not surprisingly, the global beauty and personal care market value is predicted to exceed $716 billion by 2025, with much of that value related to the development of innovative and/or redesigned products and technologies [4].

The rapid rise of the cosmetics industry has been characterized by a growing demand for innovative and personalized products designed on the basis of increasingly detailed scientific knowledge [5]. In addition, the recent COVID-19 pandemic and associated global events have suggested that market trends for cosmetics are strongly affected by customer perceptions and are thus ever-changing; indeed, after years in which the demand has been increasingly oriented towards the use of “clean” and natural products, the pandemic has highlighted the need for safer and transparent items [6,7].

Back in 1986 [Note: Links have been removed], Lancôme and Dior simultaneously launched the first nanotechnology-based cosmetic products under the name of Niosomes® and Capture®, respectively [7,8]. The introduction of nanotechnology was pronounced to be a major scientific innovation and represented a major breakthrough towards the development of high-quality products; its use is now well-established in the cosmetics industry. Indeed, less demanding regulatory restrictions as compared to the development of new drugs, along with the localised action of these products, initially made the field extremely promising [9,10]. Nowadays, it is widely accepted that the use of nanoparticles (NPs) significantly improves the performance of cosmetics in diverse ways, performing both as an active ingredient and/or a carrier. For this reason, these technologies may be easily recognized as industry standards [11]. However, doubts about possible long-term [12] toxicity, together with concerns about the real advantages of nanomaterials in product performance, have often led to general mistrust [13,14]. Indeed, in late 2009 the European Union recast the individual directives associated with the use of cosmetics into a single platform collecting all of the relevant products. It was then proposed that the presence of nanomaterials in these products should necessitate additional restrictions before they are authorised for use as ingredients [15]. As a consequence, the cosmetics industry became wary of publicly promoting nanotechnology, often avoiding referring to ingredients as being composed of nanomaterials. Given this background, the present review aims to provide an update of the state of the art of the nanocosmetics field, exploring the beneficial effects of nanomaterials and offering a critical overview of toxicological issues. Among the various cosmetic product categories, our insights are mainly focused on skincare, which more clearly highlights the reappraisal of exploiting nanotechnology in cosmetics.

The researchers are from the University of Milano (Italy), so any reference to regulations and rules are almost certainly those that pertain to the European Union (EU).

Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,

The emerging role of nanotechnology in skincare by Lucia Salvioni, Lucia Morelli, Evelyn Ochoa, Massimo Labra, Luisa Fiandra, Luca Palugan, Davide Prosperi, Miriam Colombo. Advances in Colloid and Interface Science Volume 293, July 2021, 102437 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cis.2021.102437

This paper is open access.

Sound waves for wearable patches that deliver drugs painlessly

While watching this video I started wondering if they were testing their research on students but that’s not the case; these wearable patches were tested on porcine (pig) skin, which is quite similar to human skin, Note: They tested a B vitamin called niacinamide so, it’s highly unlikely the pigs suffered from it,

An April 20, 2023 news item on ScienceDaily announces the research into using ultrasonic waves for drug delivery,

The skin is an appealing route for drug delivery because it allows drugs to go directly to the site where they’re needed, which could be useful for wound healing, pain relief, or other medical and cosmetic applications. However, delivering drugs through the skin is difficult because the tough outer layer of the skin prevents most small molecules from passing through it.

In hopes of making it easier to deliver drugs through the skin, MIT [Massachusetts Institute of Technology] researchers have developed a wearable patch that applies painless ultrasonic waves to the skin, creating tiny channels that drugs can pass through. This approach could lend itself to delivery of treatments for a variety of skin conditions, and could also be adapted to deliver hormones, muscle relaxants, and other drugs, the researchers say.

An April 20, 2023 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) news release (also on EurekAlert), which originated the news item, provides technical details about the research, Note: A link has been removed,

“The ease-of-use and high-repeatability offered by this system provides a game-changing alternative to patients and consumers suffering from skin conditions and premature skin aging,” says Canan Dagdeviren, an associate professor in MIT’s Media Lab and the senior author of the study. “Delivering drugs this way could offer less systemic toxicity and is more local, comfortable, and controllable.”

MIT research assistants Chia-Chen Yu and Aastha Shah are the lead authors of the paper, which appears in Advanced Materials, as part of the journal’s “Rising Stars” series, which showcases the outstanding work of researchers in the early stages of their independent careers. Other MIT authors include Research Assistant Colin Marcus and postdoc Md Osman Goni Nayeem. Nikta Amiri, Amit Kumar Bhayadia, and Amin Karami of the University of Buffalo are also authors of the paper.

A boost from sound waves

The researchers began this project as an exploration of alternative ways to deliver drugs. Most drugs are delivered orally or intravenously, but the skin is a route that could offer much more targeted drug delivery for certain applications.

“The main benefit with skin is that you bypass the whole gastrointestinal tract. With oral delivery, you have to deliver a much larger dose in order to account for the loss that you would have in the gastric system,” Shah says. “This is a much more targeted, focused modality of drug delivery.”

Ultrasound exposure has been shown to enhance the skin’s permeability to small-molecule drugs, but most of the existing techniques for performing this kind of drug delivery require bulky equipment. The MIT team wanted to come up with a way to perform this kind of transdermal drug delivery with a lightweight, wearable patch, which could make it easier to use for a variety of applications.

The device that they designed consists of a patch embedded with several disc-shaped piezoelectric transducers, which can convert electric currents into mechanical energy. Each disc is embedded in a polymeric cavity that contains the drug molecules dissolved in a liquid solution. When an electric current is applied to the piezoelectric elements, they generate pressure waves in the fluid, creating bubbles that burst against the skin. These bursting bubbles produce microjets of fluid that can penetrate through the skin’s tough outer layer, the stratum corneum.

“This works open the door to using vibrations to enhance drug delivery. There are several parameters that result in generation of different kinds of waveform patterns. Both mechanical and biological aspects of drug delivery can be improved by this new toolset,” Karami says.

The patch is made of PDMS, a silicone-based polymer that can adhere to the skin without tape. In this study, the researchers tested the device by delivering a B vitamin called niacinamide, an ingredient in many sunscreens and moisturizers.

In tests using pig skin, the researchers showed that when they delivered niacinamide using the ultrasound patch, the amount of drug that penetrated the skin was 26 times greater than the amount that could pass through the skin without ultrasonic assistance.

The researchers also compared the results from their new device to microneedling, a technique sometimes used for transdermal drug delivery, which involves puncturing the skin with miniature needles. The researchers found that their patch was able to deliver the same amount of niacinamide in 30 minutes that could be delivered with microneedles over a six-hour period.

Local delivery

With the current version of the device, drugs can penetrate a few millimeters into the skin, making this approach potentially useful for drugs that act locally within the skin. These could include niacinamide or vitamin C, which is used to treat age spots or other dark spots on the skin, or topical drugs used to heal burns.

With further modifications to increase the penetration depth, this technique could also be used for drugs that need to reach the bloodstream, such as caffeine, fentanyl, or lidocaine. Dagdeviren also envisions that this kind of patch could be useful for delivering hormones such as progesterone. In addition, the researchers are now exploring the possibility of implanting similar devices inside the body to deliver drugs to treat cancer or other diseases.

The researchers are also working on further optimizing the wearable patch, in hopes of testing it soon on human volunteers. They also plan to repeat the lab experiments they did in this study, with larger drug molecules.

“After we characterize the drug penetration profiles for much larger drugs, we would then see which candidates, like hormones or insulin, can be delivered using this technology, to provide a painless alternative for those who are currently bound to self-administer injections on a daily basis,” Shah says.

Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,

A Conformable Ultrasound Patch for Cavitation-Enhanced Transdermal Cosmeceutical Delivery by Chia-Chen Yu, Aastha Shah, Nikta Amiri, Colin Marcus, Md Osman Goni Nayeem, Amit Kumar Bhayadia, Amin Karami, Canan Dagdeviren. Advanced Materials Volume35, Issue 23 June 8, 2023 2300066 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202300066 First published online: 19 March 2023

This paper is open access.

Adding as little as 0.1% of rosmarinic acid reduced amount of sunscreen needed to protect skin and more

Since metallic nanoparticles are now pretty much accepted as being relatively safe ingredients, I don’t write about sunscreens very often anymore. Of course metallic nanoparticles had to be rebranded as ‘minerals’ after some civil society groups raised a great fuss. (See my February 9, 2012 posting “Unintended consequences: Australians not using sunscreens to avoid nanoparticles?” for a rundown of the situation.)

This April 5, 2023 news item about a different kind of sunscreen ingredient on phys.org caught my eye,

An article published in the journal Cosmetics reports an investigation of the effects of including rosmarinic acid, an active antioxidant, in a sunscreen along with two conventional ultraviolet light filters, ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate (against UVB) and avobenzone (against UVA).

They don’t seem to have tested this new ingredient in any ‘mineral’ sunscreens but it seems an intriguing possibility. Here’s more about rosmarinic acid and why it may be a good addition to sunscreens from an April 5, 2023 Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (São Paulo Research Foundation; FAPESP) press release (also on EurekAlert), which originated the news item, Note: Links have been removed)

The research group increased the sunscreen’s photoprotective efficacy by adding rosmarinic acid at 0.1%, a very small proportion compared with those of conventional UV filters. They believe their findings suggest that incorporating natural molecules with antioxidant activities into sunscreens could decrease the proportion of conventional UV filters in the final product, with the advantage of providing other functional properties.

The product’s performance improved without the need to increase active principle levels, reducing both the amount of sunscreen needed to protect the same skin area and the volume of synthetic chemicals discharged into the environment.

In vitro and clinical trials obtained a 41% increase in sun protection factor (SPF). The higher the SPF, the more sunburn protection increases.

Another advantage of including rosmarinic acid was the addition of antioxidant activity to photoprotection so that the product could be used in antiaging cosmetics, for example.

“Our research on photoprotective systems aims primarily to evaluate potential sunscreen enhancement strategies. We’re interested above all in discovering ways to increase sunburn protection while also improving the stability of the product so that it remains safe and effective for longer,” said pharmaceutical scientist and biochemist André Rolim Baby, last author of the article and a professor at the University of São Paulo’s School of Pharmaceutical Sciences (FCF-USP) in Brazil.

“We’re also looking for products or systems with less environmental impact and ways of reducing the concentration of conventional filters by including natural ingredients that enhance the formulation. And we’re very interested in mapping other cosmetic properties of photoprotective molecules, such as anti-free radical action and protection of biomarkers in the outermost skin layers.”

Multifunctional compound

The investigation was part of a project supported by FAPESP to map chemopreventive properties of various UV filters.

In addition to being an antioxidant, rosmarinic acid, a natural polyphenol antioxidant found in rosemary, as well as sage, peppermint and many other herbal plants, has antiviral, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, antibiotic and anticancer properties.

In a review article published in 2022 in the journal Nutrients, the research group highlighted the beneficial effects of rosmarinic acid as a food supplement, such as improvement in skin firmness and wrinkle reduction.

“In another investigation, we found potential benefits of rosmarinic acid for skin surface hydration, reinforcing the need for more research on the substance in the field of cosmetology,” Baby said.

Here’s a link to and a citation for the research team’s latest paper,

Photoprotective Efficacy of the Association of Rosmarinic Acid 0.1% with Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate and Avobenzone by Maíra de Oliveira Bispo, Ana Lucía Morocho-Jácome, Cassiano Carlos Escudeiro, Renata Miliani Martinez, Claudinéia Aparecida Sales de Oliveira Pinto, Catarina Rosado, Maria Valéria Robles Velasco and André Rolim Baby. Cosmetics 2023, 10(1), 11; https://doi.org/10.3390/cosmetics10010011 Published: 5 January 2023 (This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Papers in Cosmetics in 2022)

This paper is open access.

BSB Nanotechnology, silicon dioxide nanoparticles (SiO2), and Dow

Silicon dioxide (a form of silicon) is more commonly known as silica. There are problems with our use of *silica and so it was interesting to see this announcement (from a September 21, 2022 Dow news release on csiwire.com),

MIDLAND, Mich., September 21, 2022 /CSRwire/ – Dow (NYSE: Dow) announced a new engagement with BSB Nanotechnology Joint Stock Company, the world’s first producer of premium rice husk-based specialty silica. Rice husk, a renewable resource produced as a waste product of rice milling, is used for a plethora of diverse applications in the personal care market. This engagement helps accelerate Dow’s commitment towards a bio-based offering. The newly added ingredient – sold under the Dow trademark EcoSmooth™ Rice Husk Cosmetic Powder – delivers optical benefits and a unique sensorial experience for consumers in skin care, hair care and color cosmetic applications.

“Dow’s partnership with BSB Nanotechnology shines a light on how we continue to deliver on our commitment to transition towards a circular and low-carbon personal care offering while fostering valuable relationships with industry trailblazers,” said Isabel Almiro do Vale, global marketing and strategy director for Dow Personal Care. “This partnership is another significant milestone allowing Dow to expand its portfolio of products that enable eco-conscious claims, prioritizing solutions that deliver high-quality, benefits backed by science.”

The product of choice for the eco-conscious consumer, the EcoSmooth™ Rice Husk Cosmetic Powder is the exclusive ingredient to make its debut between the two parties. Compiled from non-GMO natural sources, this silica powder is upcycled from rice husk, a by-product from agriculture. It delivers a smooth feel combined with optical benefits like blurring imperfections and mattifying skin.

“This agreement signifies not only the first step towards a collaboration between Dow and BSB in the personal care sector but has also opened new pathways to other business sectors within Dow where BSB’s bio-based rice husk silica can offer sustainability and multifunctionality,” said Hung Nguyen, CEO of BSB. “BSB will continue to create more innovative and green solutions for the world and offer these additives through global partners like Dow.”

About Dow Personal Care Solutions

Dow Personal Care offers unique, innovative ingredients that empower customers around the world to create products with exceptional performance and exciting benefits that consumers can trust and believe in. Consumers that seek the confidence of a healthy appearance can see and feel the difference in our products through their lustrous hair or radiant and protected skin. We leverage our understanding of customer needs, deep market knowledge and technical expertise—combined with one of the broadest portfolios of technologies—to deliver personal care solutions with outstanding performance that are safe for people and the planet. We foster these innovations on global and local levels to meet the needs of diverse consumers through business centers, research and development (R&D), manufacturing plants and customer applications centers around the world. Please visit for more information.

About Dow

Dow (NYSE: DOW) combines global breadth; asset integration and scale; focused innovation and materials science expertise; leading business positions; and environmental, social and governance (ESG) leadership to achieve profitable growth and deliver a sustainable future. The Company’s ambition is to become the most innovative, customer centric, inclusive and sustainable materials science company in the world. Dow’s portfolio of plastics, industrial intermediates, coatings and silicones businesses delivers a broad range of differentiated, science-based products and solutions for its customers in high-growth market segments, such as packaging, infrastructure, mobility and consumer applications. Dow operates 104 manufacturing sites in 31 countries and employs approximately 35,700 people. Dow delivered sales of approximately $55 billion in 2021. References to Dow or the Company mean Dow Inc. and its subsidiaries. For more information, please visit www.dow.com or follow @DowNewsroom on Twitter.

About BSB Nanotechnology

BSB Nanotechnology Joint Stock Company, an established multi-faceted business, forayed into the rice world through the formulation of rice-based milk, a widely popular beverage in Vietnam. Strategically located in the Mekong Delta, the rice basket of Vietnam, BSB Nanotech taps into the country’s position as the 5th largest rice producer to access the main ingredient to its healthy beverage product. While feeding this nutritious gift of nature to the people of Vietnam, BSB Nanotech was presented with large amounts of rice husk, a waste product of rice milling. Building upon the business principle of reducing waste by reuse, BSB Nanotech has embarked on a journey to discover and create the value that rice husk could offer through its range of premium rice husk silica under the brand Biosilico. For more information, visit www.biosilico.vn .

I’m quite taken with BSB Nanotechnology’s Biosilico About page,

THE JOURNEY FROM ASH TO CASH

BSB Nanotechnology Joint Stock Company, an established multi-faceted business, forayed into the rice world through the formulation of rice-based milk, a widely popular beverage in Vietnam. Strategically located in the Mekong Delta, the rice basket of Vietnam, BSB Nanotech taps into the country’s  position as the 5th largest rice producer to access the main ingredient to its healthy beverage product. While feeding this nutritious gift of nature to the people of Vietnam, BSB Nanotech was presented with large amounts of rice husk, a waste product of rice milling. Building upon the business principle of reducing waste by reuse, BSB Nanotech has embarked on a journey to discover the value that rice husk could offer.

In the attempt to derive by-products from rice husk, BSB Nanotech learns that the most significant value held within rice husk ash is the high content of naturally present silica. Currently, sand and quartz are the only other naturally occurring silica sources. However, extracting silica from sand and quartz not only causes health hazards, but sand mining by itself presents a huge ecological and sociological problem. The utilization of rice husk ash to produce nanoporous silica is a positive step towards both a bio-based and circular economy, as ultrafine silica/nanosilica can be manufactured from this renewable resource and agricultural waste.

After 4 years of extensive research and development, a highly dedicated team of researchers of BSB Nanotech has successfully harnessed amorphous silica in its highest purity and quality from this waste material using a unique and patented technology. A new bio-based nanoporous silica under the BIOSILICO brand is now commercially available and can be customized to suit an array of applications.

OUR PROMISE TODAY FOR A BETTER TOMORROW

Today, BSB Nanotech is recognized as the world’s first producer of rice husk based nanoporous silica on a commercial scale. We are currently working with several global partners to expand the range of BIOSILICO’s applications from the Paints and Coatings to Rubber additives and Cosmetics industries.

To ensure that our products are delivered with its promised quality and committed schedule, BSB Nanotech undertook rigorous training and auditing to refine its operation, and production process and documentation to achieve the ISO [International Standards Organisation] QMS certification in 2020.

The company has embarked on a roadmap to become a global producer and developer of rice husk based nanoporous silica in both production volume and diverse applications.

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Maybe one of these days we’ll see BSB Nanotechnology at the annual Zero Waste Conference held here in Vancouver (Canada) during the autumn.

*See my July 10, 2014 posting scroll down [about 10%] to the University of California at Riverside news release for difficulties of working with silicon at the nanoscale, then scroll down about 40% to the discussion of Sand Wars, a documentary about how our appetite for silica (silicon dioxide) is depleting our beaches of sand.*

Tattoo yourself painlessly

This is all at the microscale (for those who don’t know what micro means in this context, it’s one-millionth; specifically, the needles are measured in miilionths of a meter).

Caption: A magnified view of a microneedle patch with green tattoo ink. Credit: Georgia Tech

From a September 14, 2022 Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) news release (also on EurekAlert),

Instead of sitting in a tattoo chair for hours enduring painful punctures, imagine getting tattooed by a skin patch containing microscopic needles. Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed low-cost, painless, and bloodless tattoos that can be self-administered and have many applications, from medical alerts to tracking neutered animals to cosmetics.

“We’ve miniaturized the needle so that it’s painless, but still effectively deposits tattoo ink in the skin,” said Mark Prausnitz, principal investigator on the paper. “This could be a way not only to make medical tattoos more accessible, but also to create new opportunities for cosmetic tattoos because of the ease of administration.”

Prausnitz, Regents’ Professor and J. Erskine Love Jr. Chair in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, presented the research in the journal iScience, with former Georgia Tech postdoctoral fellow Song Li as co-author.

Tattoos are used in medicine to cover up scars, guide repeated cancer radiation treatments, or restore nipples after breast surgery. Tattoos also can be used instead of bracelets as medical alerts to communicate serious medical conditions such as diabetes, epilepsy, or allergies.

Various cosmetic products using microneedles are already on the market — mostly for anti-aging — but developing microneedle technology for tattoos is new. Prausnitz, a veteran in this area, has studied microneedle patches for years to painlessly administer drugs and vaccines to the skin without the need for hypodermic needles.

“We saw this as an opportunity to leverage our work on microneedle technology to make tattoos more accessible,” Prausnitz said. “While some people are willing to accept the pain and time required for a tattoo, we thought others might prefer a tattoo that is simply pressed onto the skin and does not hurt.” 

Transforming Tattooing

Tattoos typically use large needles to puncture repeatedly into the skin to get a good image, a time-consuming and painful process. The Georgia Tech team has developed microneedles that are smaller than a grain of sand and are made of tattoo ink encased in a dissolvable matrix.

“Because the microneedles are made of tattoo ink, they deposit the ink in the skin very efficiently,” said Li, the lead author of the study.

In this way, the microneedles can be pressed into the skin just once and then dissolve, leaving the ink in the skin after a few minutes without bleeding.  

Tattooing Technique

Although most microneedle patches for pharmaceuticals or cosmetics have dozens or hundreds of microneedles arranged in a square or circle, microneedle patch tattoos imprint a design that can include letters, numbers, symbols, and images. By arranging the microneedles in a specific pattern, each microneedle acts like a pixel to create a tattoo image in any shape or pattern.

The researchers start with a mold containing microneedles in a pattern that forms an image. They fill the microneedles in the mold with tattoo ink and add a patch backing for convenient handling. The resulting patch is then applied to the skin for a few minutes, during which time the microneedles dissolve and release the tattoo ink. Tattoo inks of various colors can be incorporated into the microneedles, including black-light ink that can only be seen when illuminated with ultraviolet light.

Prausnitz’s lab has been researching microneedles for vaccine delivery for years and realized they could be equally applicable to tattoos. With support from the Alliance for Contraception in Cats and Dogs, Prausnitz’s team started working on tattoos to identify spayed and neutered pets, but then realized the technology could be effective for people, too.

The tattoos were also designed with privacy in mind. The researchers even created patches sensitive to environmental factors such as light or temperature changes, where the tattoo will only appear with ultraviolet light or higher temperatures. This provides patients with privacy, revealing the tattoo only when desired.

The study showed that the tattoos could last for at least a year and are likely to be permanent, which also makes them viable cosmetic options for people who want an aesthetic tattoo without risk of infection or the pain associated with traditional tattoos. Microneedle tattoos could alternatively be loaded with temporary tattoo ink to address short-term needs in medicine and cosmetics.

Microneedle patch tattoos can also be used to encode information in the skin of animals. Rather than clipping the ear or applying an ear tag to animals to indicate sterilization status, a painless and discreet tattoo can be applied instead.

“The goal isn’t to replace all tattoos, which are often works of beauty created by tattoo artists,” Prausnitz said. “Our goal is to create new opportunities for patients, pets, and people who want a painless tattoo that can be easily administered.”

Prausnitz has co-founded a company called Micron Biomedical that is developing microneedle patch technology, bringing it further into clinical trials, commercializing it, and ultimately making it available to patients. 

Prausnitz and several other Georgia Tech researchers are inventors of the microneedle patch technology used in this study and have ownership interest in Micron Biomedical. They are entitled to royalties derived from Micron Biomedical’s future sales of products related to the research. These potential conflicts of interest have been disclosed and are overseen by Georgia Institute of Technology. 

You can see what they mean when they claim this is not competitive with the work you’ll see from a tattoo artist,

Heart tattoo: microneedle patch (above) and tattoo on skin (below).Credit: Song Li, Georgia Tech

Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,

Microneedle patch tattoos by Song Li, Youngeun Kim, Jeong Woo Lee, Mark R. Prausnitz. iScience DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2022.105014 Published: September 14, 2022

This paper is open access.

The company mentioned in the news release, Micron Biomedical can be found here.

Extending a wig’s life with a nanocomposite

A June 13, 2022 American Chemical Society (ACS) news release (also on EurekAlert) announces a nanocomposite that could make wigs last longer,

For some people, wigs are a fun and colorful fashion accessory, but for those with hair loss from alopecia or other conditions, they can provide a real sense of normalcy and boost self-confidence. Whether made from human or synthetic strands, however, most hairpieces lose their luster after being worn day after day. Now, researchers in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces report a new way to make wigs more durable and long lasting.

Wigs come in all colors of the rainbow and in every style imaginable. Some cover the whole head, while others are “extensions,” sections of hair that clip onto existing locks to make them look fuller or longer. Hairpieces can be made of real human strands or synthetic materials, but either way, washing, UV exposure from the sun and repeated styling can cause these products to become dry and brittle. To extend the wearable life of wigs, some researchers have spray-coated a layer of graphene oxide on them, whereas other teams have immersed wig hairs in a keratin/halloysite nanocomposite. Because it’s difficult to cover an entire hairpiece with these methods, Guang Yang, Huali Nie and colleagues wanted to see if a nanocomposite applied with a tried-and-true approach for coating surfaces with ultrathin films — known as the Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) technique — could improve coverage and increase durability.

The researchers first developed a keratin and graphene oxide nanocomposite as the coating material. To coat hairs with the LB method, they dipped a few human or synthetic hairs into water in a special apparatus with moveable side barriers. After the nanocomposite was spread on the water’s surface with an atomizer, the barriers were moved inward to compress the film— like the trash compactor that almost crushed the heroes in the movie Star Wars. After 30 minutes, the researchers lifted the hairs out of the water, and as they did so, the film coated the locks.

Compared to the immersion technique, the LB method provided more coverage. In addition, hairs treated with the LB approach sustained less UV damage, were less prone to breakage and could hold more moisture than those that were simply immersed in the nanocomposite. They also dissipated heat better and generated less static electricity when rubbed with a rubber sheet. The researchers say that the method can be scaled up for use by companies that manufacture wigs.

The authors acknowledge funding from the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, the Shanghai Natural Science Foundation, the Shanghai Pujiang Program, the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province, and the Shanghai International Cooperative Project of the Belt and Road.

Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,

High-Performance Wigs via the Langmuir–Blodgett Deposition of Keratin/Graphene Oxide Nanocomposite by Shan Du, Tiantian He, Huali Nie, and Guang Yang. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2022, 14, 23, 27233–27241 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.2c05965 Publication Date:June 3, 2022 Copyright © 2022 American Chemical Society

This paper is behind a paywall.

Oxygen-deficient nanotitania (titanium dioxide nanoparticles) for whiter teeth without the damage

A September 8, 2021 news item on phys.org announces research that could make the process of whitening teeth safer,

Most people would like to flash a smile of pearly whites, but over time teeth can become stained by foods, beverages and some medications. Unfortunately, the high levels of hydrogen peroxide in dentists’ bleaching treatments can damage enamel and cause tooth sensitivity and gum irritation. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces have developed a gel that, when exposed to near infrared (NIR) light, safely whitens teeth without the burn.

Caption: A new bleaching gel whitened tooth samples by six shades, using a low level of hydrogen peroxide (12%). Credit: Adapted from ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 2021, DOI: 10.1021/acsami.1c06774

A September 8, 2021Amercian Chemical Society (ACS) news release (also on EurekAlert), which originated the news item, provides more detail,

The growing demand for selfie-ready smiles has made tooth whitening one of the most popular dental procedures. Treatments at a dentist’s office are effective, but they use high-concentration hydrogen peroxide (30–40%). Home bleaching products contain less peroxide (6–12%), but they usually require weeks of treatment and don’t work as well. When a bleaching gel is applied to teeth, hydrogen peroxide and peroxide-derived reactive oxygen species (mainly the hydroxyl radical) degrade pigments in stains. The hydroxyl radical is much better at doing this than hydrogen peroxide itself, so researchers have tried to improve the bleaching capacity of low-concentration hydrogen peroxide by boosting the generation of powerful hydroxyl radicals. Because previous approaches have had limitations, Xingyu Hu, Li Xie, Weidong Tian and colleagues wanted to develop a safe, effective whitening gel containing a catalyst that, when exposed to NIR light, would convert low levels of hydrogen peroxide into abundant hydroxyl radicals.

The researchers made oxygen-deficient titania nanoparticles that catalyzed hydroxyl radical production from hydrogen peroxide. Exposing the nanoparticles to NIR light increased their catalytic activity, allowing them to completely bleach tooth samples stained with orange dye, tea or red dye within 2 hours. Then, the researchers made a gel containing the nanoparticles, a carbomer gel and 12% hydrogen peroxide. They applied it to naturally stained tooth samples and treated them with NIR light for an hour. The gel bleached teeth just as well as a popular tooth whitening gel containing 40% hydrogen peroxide, with less damage to enamel. The nanoparticle system is highly promising for tooth bleaching and could also be extended to other biomedical applications, such as developing antibacterial materials, the researchers say.

The authors acknowledge funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the National Key R&D Program of China and the Key Technologies R&D Program of Sichuan Province.

Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,

Photothermal-Enhanced Fenton-like Catalytic Activity of Oxygen-Deficient Nanotitania for Efficient and Safe Tooth Whitening by Xingyu Hu, Li Xie, Zhaoyu Xu, Suru Liu, Xinzhi Tan, Ruojing Qian, Ruitao Zhang, Mingyan Jiang, Wenjia Xie, and Weidong Tian. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2021, 13, 30, 35315–35327 Publication Date: July 22, 2021 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.1c06774 Copyright © 2021 American Chemical Society

This paper is behind a paywall.

Cerium-containing nanoparticles in microneedle patches for hair regrowth (a treatment for baldness?)

It’s still being tested but according to an August 11, 2021 news item on ScienceDaily, this is a promising treatment for baldness,

Although some people say that baldness is the “new sexy,” for those losing their hair, it can be distressing. An array of over-the-counter remedies are available, but most of them don’t focus on the primary causes: oxidative stress and insufficient circulation. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Nano have designed a preliminary microneedle patch containing cerium nanoparticles to combat both problems, regrowing hair in a mouse model faster than a leading treatment.

An August 11, 2021 American Chemical Society (ACS) news release (also on EurekAlert) provides more detail (Note: Links have been removed),

The most common hair loss condition is called androgenic alopecia, also known as male- or female- pattern baldness. Hair loss is permanent for people with the condition because there aren’t enough blood vessels surrounding the follicles to deliver nutrients, cytokines and other essential molecules. In addition, an accumulation of reactive oxygen species in the scalp can trigger the untimely death of the cells that form and grow new hair. Previously, Fangyuan Li, Jianqing Gao and colleagues determined that cerium-containing nanoparticles can mimic enzymes that remove excess reactive oxygen species, which reduced oxidative stress in liver injuries, wounds and Alzheimer’s disease. However, these nanoparticles cannot cross the outermost layer of skin. So, the researchers wanted to design a minimally invasive way to deliver cerium-containing nanoparticles near hair roots deep under the skin to promote hair regrowth.

As a first step, the researchers coated cerium nanoparticles with a biodegradable polyethylene glycol-lipid compound. Then they made the dissolvable microneedle patch by pouring a mixture of hyaluronic acid — a substance that is naturally abundant in human skin — and cerium-containing nanoparticles into a mold. The team tested control patches and the cerium-containing ones on male mice with bald spots formed by a hair removal cream. Both applications stimulated the formation of new blood vessels around the mice’s hair follicles. However, those treated with the nanoparticle patch showed faster signs of hair undergoing a transition in the root, such as earlier skin pigmentation and higher levels of a compound found only at the onset of new hair development. These mice also had fewer oxidative stress compounds in their skin. Finally, the researchers found that the cerium-containing microneedle patches resulted in faster mouse hair regrowth with similar coverage, density and diameter compared with a leading topical treatment and could be applied less frequently. Microneedle patches that introduce cerium nanoparticles into the skin are a promising strategy to reverse balding for androgenetic alopecia patients, the researchers say.

The authors acknowledge funding from the Ten-thousand Talents Program of Zhejiang Province, National Key R&D Program of China, National Natural Science Foundation of China, One Belt and One Road International Cooperation Project from the Key Research and Development Program of Zhejiang Province, Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities and Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China.

Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,

Ceria Nanozyme-Integrated Microneedles Reshape the Perifollicular Microenvironment for Androgenetic Alopecia Treatment by Anran Yuan, Fan Xia, Qiong Bian, Haibin Wu, Yueting Gu, Tao Wang, Ruxuan Wang, Lingling Huang, Qiaoling Huang, Yuefeng Rao, Daishun Ling, Fangyuan Li, and Jianqing Gao. ACS Nano 2021, XXXX, XXX, XXX-XXX DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.1c05272 Publication Date:July 19, 2021 © 2021 American Chemical Society

This paper is behind a paywall.

Precision skincare

An inkjet printer for your skin—it’s an idea I’m not sure I’m ready for. Still, I’m not the target market for the product being described in Rachel Kim Raczka’s June 2, 2021 article for Fast Company (Note: Links have been removed),

… I’ve had broken capillaries, patchy spots, and enlarged pores most of my adult life. And after I turned 30, I developed a glorious strip of melasma (a “sun mustache”) across my upper lip. The delicate balance of maintaining my “good” texture—skin that looks like skin—while disguising my “bad” texture is a constant push and pull. Still, I continue to fall victim to “no makeup” makeup, the frustratingly contradictory trend that will never die. A white whale that $599 high-tech beauty printer Opte hopes to fill.

Weirdly enough, “printer” is a fair representation of what Opte is. The size and shape of an electric razor, Opte’s Precision Wand’s tiny computer claims to detect and camouflage hyperpigmentation with a series of gentle swipes. The product deposits extremely small blends of white, yellow, and red pigments to hide discoloration using a blue LED and a hypersensitive camera that scans 200 photos per second. Opte then relies on an algorithm to apply color—housed in replaceable serum cartridges, delivered through 120 thermal inkjet nozzles—only onto contrasting patches of melanin via what CEO Matt Petersen calls “the world’s smallest inkjet printer.” 

Opte is a 15-year, 500,000-R&D-hour project developed under P&G Ventures, officially launched in 2020. While targeting hyperpigmentation was an end goal, the broader mission looked at focusing on “precision skincare.” …

… You start by dropping the included 11-ingredient serum cartridge into the pod; the $129 cartridges and refills come in three shades that the company says cover 98% of skin tones and last 90 days. The handheld device very loudly refills itself and displays instructions on a tiny screen on its handle. …

… While I can’t rely on the Opte to hide a blemish or dark circles—I’ll still need concealer to achieve that level of coverage—I can’t quite describe the “glowiness” using this gadget generates. With more use, I’ve come to retrain my brain to expect Opte to work more like an eraser than a crayon; it’s skincare, not makeup. My skin looks healthier and brighter but still, without a doubt, like my skin. 

There’s more discussion of how this product works in Raczka’s June 2, 2021 article and you can find the Opte website here. I have no idea if they ship this product outside the US or what that might cost.

Sunscreens 2020 and the Environmental Working Group (EWG)

There must be some sweet satisfaction or perhaps it’s better described as relief for the Environmental Working Group (EWG) now that sunscreens with metallic (zinc oxide and/or titanium dioxide) nanoparticles are gaining wide acceptance. (More about the history and politics EWG and metallic nanoparticles at the end of this posting.)

This acceptance has happened alongside growing concerns about oxybenzone, a sunscreen ingredient that EWG has long warned against. Oxybenzone has been banned from use in Hawaii due to environmental concerns (see my July 6, 2018 posting; scroll down about 40% of the way for specifics about Hawaii). Also, it is one of the common sunscreen ingredients for which the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is completing a safety review.

Today, zinc oxide and titanium dioxide metallic nanoparticles are being called minerals, as in, “mineral-based” sunscreens. They are categorized as physical sunscreens as opposed to chemical sunscreens.

I believe the most recent sunscreen posting here was my 2018 update (uly 6, 2018 posting) so the topic is overdue for some attention here. From a May 21, 2020 EWG news release (received via email),

As states reopen and Americans leave their homes to venture outside, it’s important for them to remember to protect their skin from the sun’s harmful rays. Today the Environmental Working Group released its 14th annual Guide to Sunscreens.  

This year researchers rated the safety and efficacy of more than 1,300 SPF products – including sunscreens, moisturizers and lip balms – and found that only 25 percent offer adequate protection and do not contain worrisome ingredients such as oxybenzone, a potential hormone-disrupting chemical that is readily absorbed by the body.

Despite a delay in finalizing rules that would make all sunscreens on U.S. store shelves safer, the Food and Drug Administration, the agency that governs sunscreen safety, is completing tests that highlight concerns with common sunscreen ingredients. Last year, the agency published two studies showing that, with just a single application, six commonly used chemical active ingredients, including oxybenzone, are readily absorbed through the skin and could be detected in our bodies at levels that could cause harm.

“It’s quite concerning,” said Nneka Leiba, EWG’s vice president of Healthy Living science. “Those studies don’t prove whether the sunscreens are unsafe, but they do highlight problems with how these products are regulated.”

“EWG has been advocating for the FDA to review these chemical ingredients for 14 years,” Leiba said. “We slather these ingredients on our skin, but these chemicals haven’t been adequately tested. This is just one example of the backward nature of product regulation in the U.S.”

Oxybenzone remains a commonly used active ingredient, found in more than 40 percent of the non-mineral sunscreens in this year’s guide. Oxybenzone is allergenic and a potential endocrine disruptor, and has been detected in human breast milk, amniotic fluid, urine and blood.

According to EWG’s assessment, fewer than half of the products in this year’s guide contain active ingredients that the FDA has proposed are safe and effective.

“Based on the best current science and toxicology data, we continue to recommend sunscreens with the mineral active ingredients zinc dioxide and titanium dioxide, because they are the only two ingredients the FDA recognized as safe or effective in their proposed draft rules,” said Carla Burns, an EWG research and database analyst who manages the updates to the sunscreen guide.

Most people select sunscreen products based on their SPF, or sunburn protection factor, and mistakenly assume that bigger numbers offer better protection. According to the FDA, higher SPF values have not been shown to provide additional clinical benefit and may give users a false sense of protection. This may lead to overexposure to UVA rays that increase the risk of long-term skin damage and cancer. The FDA has proposed limiting SPF claims to 60+.

EWG continues to hone our recommendations by strengthening the criteria for assessing sunscreens, which are based on the latest findings in the scientific literature and commissioned tests of sunscreen product efficacy. This year EWG made changes to our methodology in order to strengthen our requirement that products provide the highest level of UVA protection.

“Our understanding of the dangers associated with UVA exposure is increasing, and they are of great concern,” said Burns. “Sunburn during early life, especially childhood, is very dangerous and a risk factor for all skin cancers, but especially melanoma. Babies and young children are especially vulnerable to sun damage. Just a few blistering sunburns early in life can double a person’s risk of developing melanoma later in life.”

EWG researchers found 180 sunscreens that meet our criteria for safety and efficacy and would likely meet the proposed FDA standards. Even the biggest brands now provide mineral options for consumers.  

Even for Americans continuing to follow stay-at-home orders, wearing an SPF product may still be important. If you’re sitting by a window, UVA and UVB rays can penetrate the glass.  

It is important to remember that sunscreen is only one part of a sun safety routine. People should also protect their skin by covering up with clothing, hats and sunglasses. And sunscreen must be reapplied at least every two hours to stay effective.

EWG’s Guide to Sunscreens helps consumers find products that get high ratings for providing adequate broad-spectrum protection and that are made with ingredients that pose fewer health concerns.

The new guide also includes lists of:

Here are more quick tips for choosing better sunscreens:

  • Check your products in EWG’s sunscreen database and avoid those with harmful ingredients.
  • Avoid products with oxybenzone. This chemical penetrates the skin, gets into the bloodstream and can affect normal hormone activities.
  • Steer clear of products with SPF higher than 50+. High SPF values do not necessarily provide increased UVA protection and may fool you into thinking you are safe from sun damage.
  • Avoid sprays. These popular products pose inhalation concerns, and they may not provide a thick and uniform coating on the skin.
  • Stay away from retinyl palmitate. Government studies link the use of retinyl palmitate, a form of vitamin A, to the formation of skin tumors and lesions when it is applied to sun-exposed skin.
  • Avoid intense sun exposure during the peak hours of 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Shoppers on the go can download EWG’s Healthy Living app to get ratings and safety information on sunscreens and other personal care products. Also be sure to check out EWG’s sunscreen label decoder.

One caveat, these EWG-recommended products might not be found in Canadian stores or your favourite product may not have been reviewed for inclusion, as a product to be sought out or avoided, in their database. For example, I use a sunscreen that isn’t listed in the database, although at least a few other of the company’s sunscreen products are. On the plus side, my sunscreen doesn’t include oxybenzone or retinyl palmitate as ingredients.

To sum up the situation with sunscreens containing metallic nanoparticles (minerals), they are considered to be relatively safe but should new research emerge that designation could change. In effect, all we can do is our best with the information at hand.

History and politics of metallic nanoparticles in sunscreens

In 2009 it was a bit of a shock when the EWG released a report recommending the use of sunscreens with metallic nanoparticles in the list of ingredients. From my July 9, 2009 posting,

The EWG (Environmental Working Group) is, according to Maynard [as of 20202: Dr. Andrew Maynard is a scientist and author, Associate Director of Faculty in the ASU {Arizona State University} School for the Future of Innovation in Society, also the director of the ASU Risk Innovation Lab, and leader of the Risk Innovation Nexus], not usually friendly to industry and they had this to say about their own predisposition prior to reviewing the data (from EWG),

When we began our sunscreen investigation at the Environmental Working Group, our researchers thought we would ultimately recommend against micronized and nano-sized zinc oxide and titanium dioxide sunscreens. After all, no one has taken a more expansive and critical look than EWG at the use of nanoparticles in cosmetics and sunscreens, including the lack of definitive safety data and consumer information on these common new ingredients, and few substances more dramatically highlight gaps in our system of public health protections than the raw materials used in the burgeoning field of nanotechnology. But many months and nearly 400 peer-reviewed studies later, we find ourselves drawing a different conclusion, and recommending some sunscreens that may contain nano-sized ingredients.

My understanding is that after this report, the EWG was somewhat ostracized by collegial organizations. Friends of the Earth (FoE) and the ETC Group both of which issued reports that were published after the EWG report and were highly critical of ‘nano sunscreens’.

The ETC Group did not continue its anti nanosunscreen campaign for long (I saw only one report) but FoE (in particular the Australian arm of the organization) more than made up for that withdrawal and to sad effect. My February 9, 2012 post title was this: Unintended consequences: Australians not using sunscreens to avoid nanoparticles?

An Australian government survey found that 13% of Australians were not using any sunscreen due to fears about nanoparticles. In a country with the highest incidence of skin cancer in the world and, which spent untold millions over decades getting people to cover up in the sun, it was devastating news.

FoE immediately withdrew all their anti nanosunscreen materials in Australia from circulation while firing broadsides at the government. The organization’s focus on sunscreens with metallic nanoparticles has diminished since 2012.

Research

I have difficulty trusting materials from FoE and you can see why here in this July 26, 2011 posting (Misunderstanding the data or a failure to research? Georgia Straight article about nanoparticles). In it, I analyze Alex Roslin’s profoundly problematic article about metallic nanoparticles and other engineered nanoparticles. All of Roslin’s article was based on research and materials produced by FoE which misrepresented some of the research. Roslin would have realized that if he had bothered to do any research for himself.

EWG impressed me mightily with their refusal to set aside or dismiss the research disputing their initial assumption that metallic nanoparticles in sunscreens were hazardous. (BTW, there is one instance where metallic nanoparticles in sunscreens are of concern. My October 13, 2013 posting about anatase and rutile forms of titanium dioxide at the nanoscale features research on that issue.)

EWG’s Wikipedia entry

Whoever and however many are maintaining this page, they don’t like EWG at all,

The accuracy of EWG reports and statements have been criticized, as has its funding by the organic food industry[2][3][4][5] Its warnings have been labeled “alarmist”, “scaremongering” and “misleading”.[6][7][8] Despite the questionable status of its work, EWG has been influential.[9]

This is the third paragraph in the Introduction. At its very best, the information is neutral, otherwise, it’s much like that third paragraph.

Even John D. Rockeller’s entry is more flattering and he was known as the ‘most hated man in America’ as this show description on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) website makes clear,

American Experience

The Rockefellers Chapter One

Clip: Season 13 Episode 1 | 9m 37s

John D. Rockefeller was the world’s first billionaire and the most hated man in America. Watch the epic story of the man who monopolized oil.

Fun in the sun

Have fun in the sun this summer. There’s EWG’s sunscreen database, the tips listed in the news release, and EWG also has a webpage where they describe their methodology for how they assess sunscreens. It gets a little technical (for me anyway) but it should answer any further safety questions you might have after reading this post.

It may require a bit of ingenuity given the concerns over COVID-19 but I’m constantly amazed at the inventiveness with which so many people have met this pandemic. (This June 15, 2020 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation article by Sheena Goodyear features a family that created a machine that won the 2020 Rube Goldberg Bar of Soap Video challenge. The article includes an embedded video of the winning machine in action.)