Use Drinkable Sunscreen and Ya Might Get Burnt

Drinkable sunscreen is actually not a new product, but the company behind it recently launched a renewed publicity campaign that’s been hard for many medical professionals to swallow—so maybe don’t invest in the vibrating magical water just yet.

The sunblock cocktail is called Osmosis Skincare’s UV Neutralizer Harmonized Water and claims to use “unique vibrational waves which isolate out the precise frequencies needed to protect you from UV rays.” Its ingredients are just listed as a “Mixture of Distilled Water and Multiple Vibrational Frequency Blends” which the website claims “neutralizes UV radiation, allows for increased sun exposure (30x more than normal),  and enhances tanning effect from the sun.” Customers are instructed to drink 2 ml and then wait an hour before exposure for protection equivalent to SPF 30 regular sunblock. The $30.00 bottle comes in “Tan Enhancing” and “No Tan Enhancing” versions, and has not been evaluated by the FDA.

If a skincare product with actual science behind it existed that could offer complete protection in one swallow, I would get my ghost-white hands on it faster than you can say “aloe.” But despite the website’s (unsurprisingly) glowing reviews, dermatologists consulted by The Huffington Post obviously have concerns. Dr. Jessica Krant said Harmonized Water is “totally unsubstantiated pseudoscience” and that it doesn’t “list any active ingredients anywhere publicly available that might suggest true efficacy in any kind of protection from sun damage.” Dermatologist Dr. David J. Leffell cautioned,

Being very familiar with the biology of ultraviolet radiation and the skin, I would be very suspicious that this product would not be validated scientifically. Moreover, why would you want to take something that affects your whole system when you are dealing with what is effectively a surface issue?

The idea of ensuring compete skin coverage by protecting from the inside out is appealing, but I won’t trust my epidermis’ fate to “Vibrational Frequency Blends” just yet. Back into the coffin I go, I guess.

(via Huffington Post, image via Harmonized Water)