Like visible light, radio waves, microwaves, x-rays and gamma rays, ultraviolet (UV) rays are one tiny part of the electromagnetic spectrum. A picture means a thousand words so in the spirit of keeping this brief and courtesy of good old NASA, the spectrum is illustrated below.
The light you can see (visible light) occupies a small part of the spectrum but we’re particularly interested in the ultraviolet (UV) part you don’t see but that greatly impacts upon your skin’s health. You can read a lot about understanding UV in our previous journal here but in this key technologies journal I wanted to talk about the actual tech we use in our products to protect your skin from damaging UV.
There are two key ways to protect skin from UV. “Chemical” filters are organic compounds and work by absorbing UV and converting that energy into heat which is then dissipated. Physical filters are inorganic compounds which literally deflect (i.e. block) light away from the skin much like UPF clothing would. At LifeJacket we use both technologies because they each have their benefits (see our journal about physical vs chemical here). All of the ones we use are Reef Safe and are fully safety approved by the EU. In this ingredient focus journal I wanted to talk about one of the key technologies we use and that is…..drum roll…..Tris-Biphenyl Triazine. Tris-Biphenyl Triazine is a specialised filter technology that was approved for use as an organic UV filter within the last 5 years after a 10 year approval process within the EU. It is particularly innovative and has allowed us to push the boundaries of skin protection across the entire UV spectrum (i.e. UVA and UVB).
Due to its superior UV absorption capabilities, Tris-Biphenyl Triazine is one of the most innovative UV filters available to us and provides exceptionally high UV protection in the UVAII range. It is an innovative organic aqueous dispersion of a micro-particulate broad-spectrum UV filter with both UVB and UVA coverage and also contributes to the aqua light feel we find in particular our target consumers want. Essentially it combines absorption with deflection in dealing with UV.
Significantly increases protective performance against both UVA and UVB
Being a micro-particulate broad-spectrum UV filter Tris-Biphenyl Triazine provides exceptional protective performance across both UVB and UVA spectrums compared to traditional technologies. For example, the extinction spectrum versus OCR (octocrylene) and EHMC (ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate) is superior.
It is just one of the many ingredients we use to help us achieve our ambition of delivering high performance formulations that individuals are more (rather than less) likely to use. We’re always innovating and improving but you can be 100% reassured that all of our products are toxicologically and dermatologically tested, so you know your skin is in safe hands.
Stay safe,
