“Butyloctyl salicylate is an artificial ingredient that helps enhance the aesthetics and efficiency of sunscreen merchandise,” says beauty chemist Ron Robinson, founding father of BeautyStat. “It does so by serving to to solubilize and stabilize sunscreen lively elements, in addition to present emollience. It additionally has UV absorption capabilities in its personal proper, which can assist additional enhance the SPF degree of the product.”

That’s why some discuss with it as an “SPF booster.” It helps stabilize the sunscreen, enhance its feel and look, and enhance its UV-absorbing energy. It does the latter by absorbing UV gentle and triggering a chemical response, which then transforms the UV into warmth. 

If that every one sounds very acquainted to chemical sunscreen filters—versus bodily filters, which create a barrier to protect the susceptible pores and skin under—properly, that’s as a result of they’re just about the identical factor. Actually, butyloctyl salicylate “could be very related in chemical construction to octisalate, which is an accredited sunscreen lively within the U.S. and plenty of different international locations,” says product developer Emily Philen, senior supervisor of scientific affairs at Murad. 

“The official identify for octisalate is ethylhexyl salicylate which, as you possibly can inform from the identify, is butyloctyl salicylate’s relative,” writes beauty chemist Michelle Wong, Ph.D., on her web site, Lab Muffin Magnificence Science. And the “salicylate” portion is the part that really absorbs the UV gentle, which is identical in each molecules. “The bit that’s completely different doesn’t truly work together with UV in any respect,” she provides. 

So why isn’t it thought of an SPF lively, you may ask? Effectively, sunscreen actives should undergo a really lengthy and arduous course of to develop into regulated by the FDA. I extremely counsel studying Wong’s full submit, which dives deeper into the ins and outs of sunscreen regulation. However the gist is that there’s a number of authorized purple tape, and for some purpose butyloctyl salicylate hasn’t been registered but.