Colored Sunscreen Could Cut Skin Cancer Rates, Says Study

Lathering on your SPF before stepping into the sun might not actually be enough to protect you from the cancer-causing rays, according to the results of a new study. The solution? Colored sunscreen.

Despite a rise in the religious use of sunscreen, skin cancer rates are also on the rise. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, reported cases of melanoma — the deadliest form of skin cancer — are increasing every year.

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This posed an interesting question for researchers at the Center for Research on Redox Processes in Biomedicine (Redoxome) in São Paulo: If we're more diligent than ever about applying SPF, why are we still getting burned?

It all comes down to the rays.

Earlier this year, researchers finally discovered how UV rays trigger the formation of melanoma. "UVB is absorbed directly by the DNA molecules of our skin cells, inducing a direct photochemical processes that distorts the structure of DNA, affecting its function," Maurício Baptista, a professor at the University of São Paulo's Chemistry Institute and member of Redoxome, tells Allure. UVA rays, on the other hand, penetrate deeper into the skin, which causes "photooxidation of DNA, forming pre-mutagenic DNA lesions, which can accumulate and cause malignant transformation." In other words, they can potentially cause cancer.

In a recent study done using cultured skin cells and published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, Baptista and a team of researchers took a closer look at exactly what kind of damage UVA and visible light rays can cause beneath the skin's surface. Namely, they found that UVA exposure stimulates the accumulation of a pigment called lipofuscin, which "has the potential to cause what is referred to as oxidative damage to skin cells in the presence of visible light," Kathleen Cook Suozzi, an assistant professor of dermatology at the Yale School of Medicine, who was not involved with the study, tells Allure. In other words, UVA rays damage the skin and exposure to visible light exacerbates the problem.

"While we know that oxidative damage is involved in the skin carcinogenesis process, more research is needed to show if the process of lipofuscin accumulation plus visible light is relevant in the development of skin cancer," she says. "Visible light alone is not sufficient to induce the damage — the process described relies on synergy with UVA exposure."

So what does this all mean for your sun-protection routine? While chemical SPF protects you from cancer-causing UVA and UVB rays, it does nothing to protect your skin from visible light rays. "Good sunscreens available today allow photons in the visible range to freely penetrate the skin, causing deleterious effects," explains Baptista. That means "the habit of using sunscreen and staying under the sun for long periods of time can cause irreparable damage to the health of the skin, including photo-aging and possibly the formation of tumors," he says.

To keep your skin safe from all types of rays, you'll need physical block between you and the sun — think clothing or mineral sunscreen, which works by reflecting light. "In the older formulations, these physical mineral blockers would leave a whitish hue on the skin and would be cosmetically unacceptable for darker skin types," explains Suozzi. Unless you want to wear long sleeves every time you step out into the sun, "it is important to also develop possible ways to protect our skin against visible light," says Baptista.

Enter colored sunscreen, which Baptista and his team are currently working on producing commercially. While any color would technically do — Hot pink SPF? Yes, please. — "to be cosmetically wearable, they should match the skin tone so they blend in," says Suozzi. Who knows, it might not be long until SPF comes in as many shades as Fenty Beauty foundation.

In the meantime, keep in mind that even with the help of SPF, spending too much time in the sun can be damaging for your skin. To stay protected you'll need a mineral sunscreen or some serious shade.

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