The other day in one of my classes we were talking about some new building (I forget where or by whom) that's outside surface had been coated in titanium dioxide. The mineral apparently reacts with light to break down dirt and pollutants, so the idea was that having it on the surface of the building, which was white, would help keep the building clean. Not only did that happen, but the air radiating out from the building is significantly cleaner of pollutants farther away.
Anyway, so last night I was in Sephora checking out bare minerals, cause I am the last person on the bandwagon as always, and guess what the active ingredient of the foundation is? Titanium dioxide! I don't know if it's there for its self-cleaning properties or its pigment properties but I thought that was pretty cool. Cause I'm a big nerd.
I found it is often used as a pigment, to "brighten" things: it is used in paints and to make toothpaste white and in foundations also for its light reflecting properties.
I guess they weren't thinking about the catalytic properties of the chemical (which help breaking down pollutants) when putting it in foundations, but it might have this effect too!!!! BTW - I found it is used also for "cleaning" water.
sephorablue, may be the building stayed white not only b/c it "self-cleans" but also b/c it reflects light?
just to add to the pool of information, a lot of sunscreens for sensitive skin use titanium dioxide in their active ingredients because i think the regular ingredient is too harsh or causes allergic reactions in some people (the only reason i know this is because i can't wear normal sunscreen so i'm always on the lookout for spf products that use titanium dioxide)
missbean wrote: just to add to the pool of information, a lot of sunscreens for sensitive skin use titanium dioxide in their active ingredients because i think the regular ingredient is too harsh or causes allergic reactions in some people (the only reason i know this is because i can't wear normal sunscreen so i'm always on the lookout for spf products that use titanium dioxide)
me too. I am sensitive to chemical sunscreens so the only sunscreens I can put on without getting adverse reactions are physical sunscreens which contain titanium dioxide and zinc oxide.