The problem with BB cream sunscreens

Why should you avoid sunscreen products that only contain one active ingredient (titanium dioxide)? They don't offer protection against the full spectrum of UV light.

Lately I’ve noticed that some products advertise SPF protection, but only contain one active ingredient: titanium dioxide. Why is that a problem? Because titanium dioxide only protects against part of the UV spectrum—specifically, UVB and UVA2 rays. It does not protect your skin from UVA1 (340–400 nm) rays, according to this table from the Skin Cancer Foundation.

Sadly, it’s not all that unusual for sunscreens to offer only partial protection against the UV spectrum. Only six out of the 14 sunscreens in Sephora’s Sun Safety Kit 2018 included active ingredients that guarded against the full UV spectrum.

This has always bothered me—I think people need to be informed more clearly when a product doesn’t offer as much UV protection as the SPF number on the label seems to indicate. So today, I thought it would be interesting to spotlight two examples of why BB creams are problematic if you’re relying on them to serve as both your makeup and your sunscreen.

La Roche Posay BB Blur SPF 20

The first one is La Roche Posay BB Blur, my long-time daily sunscreen for a several years. This was long before I even had any idea that most active sunscreen ingredients only offer partial protection against UV spectrum. This product offers “broad spectrum” SPF 20 protection with 10.66% titanium dioxide as the only active ingredient listed. I probably only applied a dime-sized amount on my face, at most. I shudder to think about the days when my young face was so vulnerable to the sunlight. Alas, I didn’t know any better at the time.

COOLA Skincare Mineral Face SPF 30 Rosilliance

The second BB cream I’ll highlight today is a brand that I’ve been seeing on sale at J. Crew lately: COOLA Skincare Mineral Face SPF 30 Rosilliance. This product was included in Sephora’s Sun Safety Kit 2018, and it contains 5.6% titanium dioxide (so a lower concentration than La Roche Posay BB Blur’s 10.66% titanium dioxide, but a higher SPF factor: 30 vs. 20). You can see the light/medium shade below.

With something that tinted, you probably won’t be in any hurry to slather it on, or you’d look like a clown. Even if your BB cream contains active ingredients that offer protection against the full UV spectrum, you probably don’t apply enough of it to actually achieve the full degree of SPF stated on the label. This explains, in a nutshell, why BB creams with SPF included are problematic. Think of the SPF in a BB cream as a cherry on top, not the whole sundae. You need to get your own sundae in the form of a dedicated sunscreen.

Tinted sunscreen > BB cream + SPF

If you really want an all-in-one product that blurs imperfections and protects against the full spectrum of UV rays, consider something like a tinted sunscreen. My favorite is Australian Gold Botanical SPF 50 Tinted Face Sunscreen, which not only offers SPF 50 protection but also offers a pretty strong PPD of 19.2, which places it in the PA+++ or PA++++ category, depending on the country. Basically, this means that it offers strong UVA protection. Read more about that here.

Follow me on
Instagram.


Note: This post uses affiliate links, which means that I'll receive a commission if you make a purchase after clicking a link (at no extra cost to you). See our disclosure policy.