The Importance of using a sunscreen containing Zinc oxide to protect your permanent makeup or Microblading.

Have you ever noticed that permanent makeup or microbladed  brows can turn a slightly ‘pinky’ shade over time? This is quite often due to a lack of knowledge on how to keep your brows protected, avoiding exposure to harmful rays from the sun.

 I don’t know about you, but I find it much easier to follow advice if I know WHY I should be following it… So here is a brief (as brief as possible) explanation on why you need to be protecting your beautiful new eyebrows post procedure.

This is also the BEST advice I could possibly give you on protecting your skin from premature ageing through sun exposure. So I hope you enjoy the read, and find this information useful, if you have any questions on this subject, please feel free to comment below.

It is so important that you protect your Permanent makeup or Microblading treatment (especially brows) from UVA or UVB. The harmful rays of the sun can dramatically fade the implanted pigment. Not only can it fade your permanent makeup, but it can change the colour of your pigment over time.

The reason this colour change occurs, is due to the fact that our chosen colour of pigment, for example brown, is made up of a combination of colours, i.e. red, blue, green, yellow, white, black. Whereas yellow and green are the weakest colours, leaving the skin first, red and blue are the strongest, therefore are the last colours to leave your skin. For this reason, overtime, you could experience brows turning a ‘pinky’ or ‘orangey’ shade with inadequate aftercare.

It can be known that just 1 hour of sun exposure can have a huge effect on your treatment, and this can be accelerated even more when teamed up with a hormonal imbalance.

Now knowing the facts, I’m sure you would like to hear more about the best way to protect your permanent makeup or Microblading treatment as much as possible to help prevent colour fade or change.  So here is a detailed explanation of why you should opt for a sunscreen containing Zinc Oxide or Titanium Dioxide, not only will this increase the longevity of your treatment results, it will make you think about how to protect your skin from premature ageing, win win J

Sunscreen or sunblock?

Sunscreen refers to products that allow the Sun’s rays to penetrate the skin but filter SOME of the radiation in the ultraviolet spectrum. The UV rays get altered to a safer wavelength and are released. The chemical interaction between the sunscreen and UV allows the sunscreen to absorb the UV before it penetrates the skin.

Sunscreen offers protection from UVA and UVB, however sunscreen ingredients have the ability to deteriorate at a faster rate once exposed to sunlight, hence some radiation is able to penetrate the skin. Some sunscreen products offer no protection against UV-A radiation whatsoever. Products often contain a mixture of physical and chemical block ingredients

Sunblock works by preventing the Suns rays from reaching your skin – either by reflecting them away or ‘Nano technology’ (making molecules really small) some sun blocking ingredients are now invisible to the eye, so you don’t get that white ghost look. The main active ingredients in sunblock’s are titanium dioxide and zinc oxide.

Physical or Chemical sunscreens, what is the difference?

Physical

A physical ingredient sits on your skin’s surface forming a protective barrier and doesn’t have the ability to be absorbed into your skin. As mentioned previously, Nano technology now means that physical sunscreens can be absorbed a little, preventing the sunscreen leaving that white residue on the skin. Light is either absorbed into the ingredient or reflected away from your body back into the atmosphere similar to a mirror or tin foil. Making this the BEST form of protection for our permanent makeup and to protect against premature ageing.
Physical Sunscreen Ingredients
Titanium dioxide- Titanium dioxide offers protection from UVB and short UVA radiation, but not long wave UVA. Titanium dioxide is also non-irritating.
Zinc oxide- Zinc oxide offers broad-spectrum protection (UVB and most of UVA). Arguably the best broad-spectrum protection available.

Chemical

Some of them absorb (soak up) the ultraviolet light as it tries to pass through them. Chemical sunscreens are not immediately effective, requiring a 20-30-minute delay after application before it becomes effective, whereas physical sunscreens are immediately effective. A chemical sunscreen ingredient absorbs sunlight to prevent sun damage but is also absorbed into your skin. Some people experience allergic reactions and burning eyes when perspiring. Chemical sunscreens DO NOT protect our implanted pigment from premature fading, and can be the cause of age spots and pigmentation.

In Summary

Titanium Dioxide or zinc oxide, are the only ingredients found in sunscreens that act as a mirror on the surface of the skin, blocking UVB and most of UVA radiation from entering your skin. Therefore, I will only recommend that you use a sunscreen containing zinc oxide for maximum protection. This should become part of your daily beauty routine, so a facial moisturizer containing SPF 30 or above and zinc oxide would be ideal to fit conveniently into your routine. However, a dedicated ‘tattoo stick’ can be used daily as a cheaper alternative.

You can do some research on your existing face creams to see if they contain this vital ingredient, or amazon is a great resource for finding these products, if you type in SPF containing zinc oxide, or tattoo stick, it will come up with lots of options. Alternatively, you can ask a member of our team to show you the recommended products that we have to sell in salon for your convenience.

Rebecca xxx