As with anything I write about in ‘Best In Beauty’ I’ve long been a fan of the brand. Or, if it’s a newbie I’m blown away by it. Environ falls under the former banner. I think I’ve been on familiar terms with it and it’s founder Dr Des Fernandes pretty much since the beginning. Well, the beginning down under anyway.
Dr Des is passionate about his brand. I know every founder is. It takes a hell of a lot of passion, investment and work to found a brand. But he really, really, really is. 😊
So, without further ado, let me tell you about the new kid on the Environ block.
Environ RAD Shield® Mineral Sunscreen
Less chemicals. More complete protection. Applied more often.
I know all of us in the business always preach sunscreen, sunscreen, sunscreen. Sometimes though I worry about applying so much ‘stuff’. Funnily enough, I remember talking with Dr Des along these lines last time I saw him several years ago.
Anyway, this new sunscreen is – I’m going to share with you the words from Environ. “A powerful new physical sunscreen innovation, born out of Dr Des Fernandes’ pioneering sun care philosophy”.
They had me at physical and powerful.
The Lowdown (from Environ)
Dr Des Fernandes developed the world’s first sun protection formulation combining powerful sun filters with antioxidants 28 years ago.
This new sunscreen contains new generation zinc oxide and titanium dioxide. These are known to be powerful physical UVA and UVB reflectors. RAD Shield® Mineral Sunscreen also contains Venuceane™. This is a scientifically advanced, heat-adaptive ingredient to help counteract the damaging effects of infrared radiation. It’s scientifically proven that infrared radiation (IR) accounts for approximately 50 per cent of solar radiation. One-third of IR energy can penetrate the epidermis, dermis, and subcutaneous tissue. IR can trigger heat-induced responses in the skin such as inflammation, hydration loss and the degradation of collagen and elastin. In turn, this increases the risk of photo-ageing of the skin.
WHY WE RATE IT
As I said earlier I worry a bit about putting so much ‘stuff’ on the skin. As my amazing functional medicine tutor likes to say ‘our skin is like a big mouth’. It eats it all up.
To quote Environ again (what’s better than straight from the horse’s mouth?) “Research has shown that the skin absorbs sunscreen ingredients, and many can become aggressive free radicals”. True that. Another point is that you’re not getting a whole lot more protection from an SPF50 than an SPF15. This is how it works:
There’s not much in it is there? That’s why Dr Des has created this new RAD SHIELD. It’s got a lower SPF and lots of lovely antioxidants like vitamin E and carotenoids. Together they help stop those pesky free radicals that may get triggered by ingredients in their tracks.
So that’s one reason we rate it. Others include:
It’s so lightweight it feels glorious.
Even though it uses zinc oxide and titanium oxide as physical sunscreen ingredients it doesn’t leave you with a pale ‘Casper’ look. (Remember Casper the friendly ghost? 🤣) These ingredients are wonderful for protecting our skins from both UVA and UVB rays but they are notorious for leaving a whitish look in their wake. Not in this formulation. It’s transparent. 🏆
