I recently purchased a baby mineral sunscreen with titanium dioxide SPF 18 from Avalon Organics.

I contacted them and asked if it was micronized and the reply was, "Our baby sunscreens utilize non-invasive micronized titanium dioxide."

The ingredients are as follows:

Active Ingredients
Titanium dioxide 7.0% (Natural Mineral Sunscreen)

Ingredients
Purified water, octyl palmitate (palm emollient), castor oil phosphate, triethoxycaprylysilane (emulsifer), glyceryl stearate (vegetable emollient), peg-100 stearate (emulsifer), isopropyl palmitate (palm emollient), cetearyl alcohol (coconut emollient), vegetable glycerin, phenoxyethanol (natural preservative), benzyl alcohol and potassium sorbate (natural preservative system), vitamin E, stearic acid (vegetable emollient), organic aloe barbadensis leaf juice (1), organic sunflower and jojoba seed oils (1), organic green tea leaf, chamomile flower, calendula flower and ginkgo biloba leaf extracts (1), vitamin B5, allantoin (comfrey root conditioner), oat kernel flour, organic echinacea leaf and yarrow extracts (1), polysorbate 60 (emulisfier), potassium cetyl phosphate (vegetable emulsifier), cetyl phosphate (vegetable emulsifer) and xanthan gum.


So am I correct in assuming that this product is still unsafe?

ALSO Dr. Pickart, what about retinyl palmitate ? FDA data suggests that retinyls have photo-carcinogenic properties. Thanks in advance for your response!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: SAGE262,

Dear SAGE262:

We are sure Dr. Pickart will post back when he has an opportunity.

But pure, non-micronized, and often pasty, minerals are going to be better (safer) reflectors of ultraviolet light.

Regarding retinyl-palmitate it is good to remember that there is much confusion over this compound. Retinyl-palmitate is found in many of our creams that clients use during the day. It is a safe compound to use in skincare products.

Dr. Pickart has stated before that "retinyl palmitate works similarily to retinol and is much more stable".

Best Wishes,
-Skin Biology

This message has been edited. Last edited by: SkinBiologyWebmaster,

Even with the retinyl palmitate, it look pretty good.