Adapting Cosmetic Formulations to a Warming Climate
- TRI Princeton
- 21 hours ago
- 2 min read
Beyond SPF: Next-Generation Sunscreen Development for Maximized Efficacy and Safety in a Warming Climate (A Spectroscopic Approach)
This fifth and final TRI Talk of 2025/26 was given by Dr. Samuel Gourion-Arsiquaud, and outlined the work that he has been undertaking with his team to use vibrational spectroscopy (which includes IR and Raman) to investigate the behavior of sunscreen formulations on the skin in a warming climate. This talk was based on work disclosed at the 79th Annual Scientific Meeting & Showcase of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists (SCC) in New York, where Samuel received an award for the research he presented the previous year, “Increased Temperature Related to Climate Change Impacts the Penetration of Sunscreen into Our Skin”.
Samuel’s talk contained four distinct parts: a outline of the misconceptions and myths around sunscreens; the benefits and damage caused by sun exposure; how a sunscreen’s SPF is currently evaluated in vitro and in vivo; and, how the TRI Skin and BioSubstrates Team are using spectroscopy as a tool for evaluation of sunscreen efficacy. One of the key features of spectroscopy is that specific chemical compounds can be identified and their locations tracked during wear, so for example the behavior of avobenzone, a widely-used UV filter, once applied can be interrogated. This is important for two reasons: firstly, it gives insight into the staying-power of the sunscreen, a metric of key importance for UV protection, and secondly the penetration of the sunscreen active ingredients into the skin’s structure can be determined. The team used this approach to compare the performance of sunscreens currently on the market with next-generation sunscreens that contain encapsulated UV filters, film formers and bioadhesion technology.
This approach was then developed further, by considering the impact of a warming climate on skin behavior and the implications that this has for sunscreen staying-power and penetration into the stratum corneum and/or epidermis. More specifically, Samuel and the team have been looking at how the change in lipid crystal packing of the skin under hotter conditions impacts upon sunscreen longevity and penetration. While the work is still in its infancy, there are some interesting preliminary results.
For those who are interested, some of Samuel’s early studies in this area have been published in the European Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejps.2018.06.001.
If you missed the talk and would like to watch it again, head to your original Zoom link and it should be available on playback. These talks are also available in the TRI library and are free to access for TRI Member Companies and library subscribers. The TRI Talks from 2025/6 will also be available to purchase at the end of the series, as a Box Set for USD 25.
