The History of Sunscreen
Photo: Coppertone
It’s officially May, which means warmer weather, more time outside, and yes, more sun exposure. Not coincidentally, May is Skin Cancer Awareness month and — love it or hate it — sunscreen is one of the best tools around for protecting yourself. Here, a fascinating (no, it really is! Sunscreen doesn’t have to be boring) look at the history of the gooey stuff through the decades.
1920s
Zinc oxide, a physical sun blocker, was already being used for sun protection, and reportedly had been used for centuries for this purpose. According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, an Australian named Norman Paul made the first association between sun exposure and skin cancer in a book he published in 1918. And according to Discover, scientists learned definitively in 1928 that UVB rays caused cancer. However, the suntan was starting to become more fashionable, thanks to Coco Chanel popularizing the look during this decade. The idea of the “healthy” tan took hold.
1930s
According to the New York Times, a Swiss chemistry student named Franz Greiter suffered a sunburn while mountain climbing and decided to try to invent sunscreen. The future founder of L’Oreal, Eugene Schueller, released a product called Ambre Solaire in 1935, which promised to protect you from sunburn, while not affecting your ability to tan.
1940s
The race to create sunscreen heats up. Greiter released a product called Gletscher Crème (Glacier Cream) for the brand Piz Buin, which is still around today. At the same time, a pharmacist and former airman, Benjamin Green, discovered a concoction that the military had placed in life rafts to protect against sunburn, called Red Vet Pet. According to Patty Agin, a scientist specializing in photobiology who’s been working at Coppertone for 30 years, the mixture was a petrolatum-based ointment. He added cocoa butter and everyone’s favorite do-everything substance, coconut oil, into it. It eventually became Coppertone.
1950s
The most notable thing to happen in the 1950s was the creation of the now-iconic Little Miss Coppertone, who appeared on the brand’s bottles with her puppy and her adorable little pale butt hanging out.
1960s
Tanning became more common than ever in the 1960s, and was popularized by French actresses like Brigitte Bardot. If you were tan, it meant you could afford to hang out on the French Riviera. Products during this era were geared towards maximizing a tan and weren’t protective.
1970s
The first tanning beds started appearing in the US in the latter part of the decade. Coppertone established its Solar Research Center and laid the groundwork for the first SPF (Sun Protection Factor) system, which the FDA later adopted as the standard. (The Skin Cancer Foundation notes that others were experimenting with SPF, but Coppertone was the first to label its products with an SPF designation.) According to Agin, manufacturers began to have a better understanding of how individual ingredients worked together. Homosalate and oxybenzone were the two primary sunscreen ingredients at the time.
1980s
Companies started introducing more specialty products, such as waterproof formulations. Scientists discovered that UVA rays were also responsible for causing cellular damage, and were probably the main culprit for wrinkles and photodamage. Avobenzone, a chemical blocker, became more widely used for broad spectrum —meaning UVA and UVB — protection, but it was unstable in the sun. Christie Brinkley was the golden-skinned poster girl of the decade. (She recently mentioned at an event for her new skincare line that one of her biggest beauty regrets was tanning when she was younger.)
1990s
One word: Baywatch. Sunscreen technology became more advanced, and companies introduced formulations like sprays and gels that were more comfortable on the skin. Brands were also allowed to start labeling their products as UVA protective. In 1999, Baz Luhrmann released the song “Everybody’s Free to Wear Sunscreen,” which simultaneously confused and inspired everyone.
2000s
The FDA approved the first new sunscreen ingredient in many years, a UVA blocker called Mexoryl. Coppertone also introduced photostabilized avobenzone, to further increase UVA protection. Micronized zinc oxide and titanium dioxide became available, which helped to eliminate the streaking usually associated with these physical blockers. Self tanners became more popular. Related: “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” debuted in 2007.
Now
We’re at a crossroads of sunscreen innovation. Organizations like the Environmental Working Group (EWG) have called traditional sunscreen ingredients into question. Some, like oxybenzone, have been suspected of causing hormone disruption. While there is not conclusive evidence that these ingredients definitively cause harm, there’s been enough consumer concern that companies are scrambling to offer alternatives. The FDA has been slow to approve alternative sunscreen ingredients, but that will hopefully improve with the passing of the Sunscreen Innovation Act, which went into effect in November 2014. Critics of the FDA have long argued that sunscreen innovation in Asia and Europe are light-years ahead of what we have here in the US, so hopefully they will soon be tested for use stateside.
Sunscreen labeling now is the most uniform it’s ever been, thanks to regulations initiated by the FDA in 2012. According to Agin, sunscreen products can no longer be called “sun blockers,” and they must be labeled as water resistant, rather than waterproof. Products must also clearly state the SPF, whether or not they offer broad spectrum coverage, and list the drug facts on the back. At this point, there is no limitation for how much SPF a product can claim to offer, though there is a movement to cap it at 50+.
The good news? Sunscreen formulas are the most specialized and elegant they’ve been in many years, and still the best protection there is against the sun.
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