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Preliminary human studies have been achieved – based on the first 5 test subjects, Green Screen(tm) delivered SPF 17 protection with a standard deviation of only 0.5 SPF units (3%). This is a very good result. The other 15 subjects will be completed this week, and a finalized report is promised on the 27th, which will be made available at kabanaskincare.com for you and the rest of the world to see. What other sunscreen company publishes their SPF results? Kabana doesn’t know of any.

Here’s some additional information about the subjectivity of SPF testing that all sunscreen users should know: The FDA monograph for SPF evaluation and labeling demands a maximum 20% of average SPF standard deviation within the human subject pool. Kabana finds this shocking, as it means that if the SPF is labeled 15, for 67% of the people who use it the actual SPF may range from 12 to 18 - quite a wide distribution. 16.5% would be protected effectively less than SPF 12, and 16.5% more than SPF 18. Remember that these numbers demand perfect application at 2mg/square centimeter. Studies have demonstrated that few users actually apply the proper amount of sunscreen and fewer still reapply as necessary, which means actual protection levels are even lower than the numbers described above. Where do you think your skin (and sunscreen application practice) resides within this probability distribution?

It’s also easy to doubt the credibility of purported SPF numbers because there’s significant inter-laboratory variation – up to 34%. If one lab tests SPF 15, another lab could test the same formula as SPF 10, or SPF 20. See this for more information.

What does all this mean? The SPF number is important, particularly for marketing a sunscreen, but it isn’t everything – regular reapplication is critical for the prevention of sunburn, premature aging and skin cancer. It’s that simple.

People love you: don’t let them down – use Green Screen(tm) regularly.

Order Green Screen(tm).

Many of you may have noticed that Kabana recently changed its tagline from "Precisely Natural(tm) Skin Care and Sun Block” to “Precisely Natural(tm) Skin Care and Sunscreen.” Why the change? While the technical differences between sunscreens and sun blocks exist; sunscreens are historically carbon based petrochemicals, and sun blocks are insoluble minerals; the FDA has made some recent changes in their labeling regulations. FDA, whose charter is to protect the American people, has decided that using “sun block” to describe UV protective lotions is misleading because no UV absorber can actually “block” all incident UV, as the name “sun block” implies. Thus, the use of "sun block" is no longer recognized and is officially illegal, despite the fact that the chemistry of different UV absorber classes supports different names. All preparations manufactured for the purpose of UV protection must be called sunscreens – if a product is labeled otherwise, it demonstrates the manufacturer doesn’t know what they’re doing. Kabana chose the change due to this regulatory issue and to enhance its long term brand equity.

Kabana has received correspondence from several customers asking about “addiction to skin care products.” We’ve been unable to find research proving or disproving this urban myth, but based on ingredients and use patterns, the following two hypotheses suggest it’s a reasonable possibility.

First, many ingredients used in mass marketed consumer products aren’t good for your skin. Some are actually irritants which can damage your skin over long term use. If a product contains both moisturizers and drying agents or irritants (like alcohol or propylene glycol), depending upon the duration of an ingredient’s activity, the bad effects may outlast the good ones. For example, alcohol may continue drying your skin long after the products’ moisturizing ingredients stop working—so as you use the product more, the product temporarily but fleetingly moisturizes your skin, but the longer term effect is that is dries your skin, so you must use additional product. For the company, this means you’ll continue to use the product because your skin is dry, and you’re therefore a repeat customer and the company makes money. As long as the product is continually used, the drying effect might be limited, effectively resulting in an apparent “addiction” if you stop using it.

The second element of continual skin care product use is that you get accustomed to the way your skin feels with certain treatments, and notice the difference when you forget your normal routine. Erik knows Kabana users in particular notice this effect because Kabana is an extremely rich and effective moisturizer that makes your skin feel really good, while the predominant condition of skin without proper nourishment is elevated dryness and relative discomfort. However, “feeling the difference” and true biochemical “addiction,” are two very different events, yet which may seem quite similar to the user and are in fact difficult to conclusively distinguish in terms of skin care. Kabana only uses ingredients that are superb for your skin, so the potential problem of getting hooked due to deleterious ingredients as described in the previous paragraph is eliminated.

The bottom line: Use of skin care products is indeed habit forming. As with life in general, it’s a matter of choosing the right habits. Cheetos or Carrots, watching TV or working out, Lubriderm or Kabana, it’s quite obvious which is better for us.