• UV Active Broad-Spectrum SPF 50+ EltaMD
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EltaMD

UV Active Broad-Spectrum SPF 50+ EltaMD

$45.00
$45.00
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All mineral, water resistant protection that keeps up with you.

You spend real time outside moving, sweating or in the water, and you want protection from mineral filters only that holds up through all of it.

UV Active gives you broad spectrum SPF 50+ from zinc oxide and titanium dioxide alone, water resistant for 80 minutes, for face and body. Jojoba esters help the film stay on and keep skin comfortable, and knotgrass extract and vitamin E add antioxidant support. EltaMD formulates it not to run into your eyes and for adults and children alike.

Who It Is For

Active adults and families who want mineral only protection for sport, water and long days outdoors.

Not Acne Safe

What You Will See, and When

Protection holds through 80 minutes of swimming or sweating, as labeled. Reapplying on schedule is what keeps it working all day.

How to Use

Every morning as your last skincare step, apply two finger lengths to face and neck and cover all the other skin your clothes do not. On active days, put it on 15 minutes before you start. Reapply after 80 minutes of swimming or sweating, right after towel drying, and at least every two hours, because the film wears off. Keep one in your bag and tie reapplying to washing your hands.

The Science

Zinc oxide covers the full ultraviolet range on its own, including long wave UVA, and stays stable in sunlight. Titanium dioxide is strongest in UVB and short UVA, so together they give complete mineral coverage with no chemical filters.

Water resistance on a US sunscreen label is tested: the SPF has to hold after 40 or 80 minutes in water. This one is tested to 80 minutes.

Sweat, swimming, towels and contact all lift sunscreen off, and modelling of real use shows that reapplying early and after activity is what keeps exposure low. SPF is measured in the lab at 2 mg of sunscreen per square centimeter of skin. In a study of real application, using half that amount brought the SPF down to roughly its square root, and a quarter of it brought it down to roughly its fourth root. Protection drops faster than the amount you skip, which is why the amount matters as much as the number on the tube.

Questions

Is it all mineral?Yes. The only UV filters are zinc oxide and titanium dioxide.
Can the whole family use it?Yes. EltaMD makes it for adults and children.
Can I use it on my face?Yes. It is made for face and body, and formulated not to run into your eyes as you sweat.

Why a Routine Made for You Works Better

General advice is written for everyone, so it has to assume nothing about you. It can tell you what is safe. It cannot tell you what will work for your skin.

Skin changes when it is challenged just enough, then given time to recover and adapt. That amount is different for every person, and it moves as your skin gets stronger. Ask too much and your skin spends its energy recovering instead of improving. Ask too little and nothing changes. Finding that point for you, and moving it at the right time, is where results come from.

Where that point sits depends on:

  • Your skin: its history, how it reacts, and what it is doing today
  • Your health: hormones, medications, pregnancy and any condition that changes how skin behaves
  • Your lifestyle: sleep, stress, diet, sun, exercise and climate
  • Your routine: what you use now, and what has and has not worked before
  • Your goals: what you most want to change
  • Your expectations and timeline: how soon you want to see change, and what is realistic for your skin
  • Your consistency: how much time and how many steps you will keep up with, because the best routine is the one you actually do
  • Your treatments: what you have had and what you have planned

A skin therapist weighs all of this, builds a routine you can keep, and adjusts it as your skin responds. That is why we guarantee our products when they are part of a routine designed by one of our skin therapists. If you have been reading general advice, bring your questions. We will help you sort out what applies to you and what does not.

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Key Ingredients

Zinc oxide 19%Broad spectrum mineral protection across UVA and UVB
Titanium dioxide 4%Strengthens mineral UVB protection
Jojoba estersHelp the protective film stay on and keep skin comfortable
Knotgrass extract and vitamin EAntioxidant support
Full Ingredient List

Active ingredients: Zinc Oxide 19.0%, Titanium Dioxide 4.0%. Inactive ingredients: Water, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Coco-Caprylate/Caprate, Ethyl Macadamiate, Glycerin, Sorbitan Olivate, Polyglyceryl-6 Polyricinoleate, C15-19 Alkane, Hydrogenated Polyisobutene, Sodium Chloride, Triethoxycaprylylsilane, Silica, Glyceryl Behenate, Hydroxyacetophenone, Polyglyceryl-2 Isostearate, Polyhydroxystearic Acid, Disteardimonium Hectorite, 1,2-Hexanediol, Caprylyl Glycol, Hydrolyzed Jojoba Esters, Xanthan Gum, Dimethicone, Sclerotium Gum, Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate, Lecithin, Pullulan, Jojoba Esters, Polygonum Aviculare Extract, Tocopherol, Malic Acid.

References

1. Mitchnick MA, Fairhurst D, Pinnell SR. Microfine zinc oxide (Z-cote) as a photostable UVA/UVB sunblock agent. J Am Acad Dermatol. 1999;40(1):85-90. doi:10.1016/s0190-9622(99)70532-3
2. Diffey BL. When should sunscreen be reapplied? J Am Acad Dermatol. 2001;45(6):882-885. doi:10.1067/mjd.2001.117385
3. Faurschou A, Wulf HC. The relation between sun protection factor and amount of sunscreen applied in vivo. Br J Dermatol. 2007;156(4):716-719. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2133.2006.07684.x
4. EltaMD. UV Active Drug Facts label, DailyMed setid 2c523aa0-7c34-4fc2-98a0-f2fdfe6d2cd2, dated November 9, 2023 (brand label data).
5. US Food and Drug Administration. Labeling and effectiveness testing; sunscreen drug products for over the counter human use. Final rule. Fed Regist. 2011;76(117):35620-35665.
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UV Active Broad-Spectrum SPF 50+ EltaMD

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