Simply put, XL-PROTECT technology is La Roche-Posay’s most complete sun protection to date.
In order to block an impressive spectrum of the sun’s rays - from UVB all the way to UVA – it smartly combines filters offering very high protection SPF50.
But XL-PROTECT goes beyond classic broad-spectrum UVA and UVB protection. It also integrates a powerful anti-oxidant complex to defend against oxidative stress induced by other key environmental aggressors, such as long UVA, infrared and pollution.
What does our filtering system complex bring more?
For decades, sun filters have defended skin against two main classes of solar radiation:
UVB (B for surface “Burn”) and UVA (A for in-depth “Aging”).
But most UV rays reaching the earth’s surface actually belong to a subgroup called long UVA, which many filters don’t protect against. These rays penetrate deeper within skin and can result in skin damage (everything from pigment spots to wrinkles and skin cancer).
The superior blend of filters to defend skin
The power of effective sun protection resides mainly in its UV filter composition to cover the largest possible spectrum. The key Anthelios products use a unique combination of organic UV filters including Mexoryl XL and a mineral filter Titanium Dioxide, to cover a broader spectrum of UV radiation, with the aim of leaving no “gaps” in the coverage. The filters fit together like a jigsaw puzzle to offer the most optimal protection, with a synergistic effect offering up to twice the UVA and UVB protection than the filters taken individually.
An anti-oxidant complex to tackle oxidative stress induced by pollution and infrared
Beyond UV radiation, two of the most prominent environmental aggressors responsible for skin oxidative stress are pollution and infrared. Both fuel invisible damages in the skin, like the oxidative stress that acts as a tag team with UV causing dramatic aging effects.
To help neutralize the effects of these two skin aggressors at every level of skin, Anthelios products with XL-PROTECT integrates a powerful antioxidant blend, including:
- La Roche-Posay Thermal Spring Water: a unique mineral composition and selenium concentration able to boost skin’s own antioxidant enzymes for added protection against the effects of UVA, UVB and pollution.[1]
- Vitamin E: also known as tocopherol, this is a lipid-soluble molecule present in our own cell membranes to neutralize oxidative stress. It also helps to reduce the damaging effects of UVA, UVB and pollution[2].
- Baicalin: a naturally-occurring polyphenol used in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries for its soothing and antioxidant properties. It has been shown to offer extra protection against both UVA[3] and long-UVA[4].
XL-PROTECT = anti UVB + UVA + Oxidative Stress [Infrared + Pollution]
3 reasons to prefer XL-protect
By assuring a global protection against both UV and urban aggressors, XL-Protect offers concrete on-skin benefits:
- To reduce oxidative stress: the invisible skin damage and aging effects due to UV and urban aggressors are diminished.
- To reduce photoaging: in other words, less of the characteristic signs of “sun damage” such as wrinkles, rough texture and hyperpigmentation (dark spots).
[1] 0.1% baicalin shows significant protection from total UVA-induced erythema vs. placebo and vitamin E. In vivo test on 12 volunteers.
[2] Baicalin at 10μM + UV filtering system protects from 50% (+22% protection vs reference UV filter alone) in the DCFH-DA assay on fibroblasts (in vitro test).
[3] Protecting effect of the percutaneous application of the La Roche-Posay thermal spring water in relation to the lipid peroxidation and the skin carcinogenesis, induced by the UVB rays
R. Cadi, JC. Béani, S. Belanger, MJ. Richard, A. Richard, A. Favier, P.Amblard.
[4] Ex vivo test of protection of sebum induced by UVA + pollutant (Cigarette Smoke : Baicalin cocktail (Baicalin 0.1% + Vit. E 0.1%) showed a significant results vs vehicle.
