Create, calculate, predict – sun protection must be suitable

Laboratory conditions usually have little to do with life outside. Is this true? Not quite. With the BASF Care Creations️ Sunscreen Simulator, formulators and manufacturers of sun protection products can work with results that are increasingly closer to real life.

The requirements for sun protection products are high and varied. They must provide protection against sunburn, significantly reduce the risk of skin cancer and should virtually stop UV-related ageing. In order to achieve all this, you need:

• a high protection performance across the entire light spectrum
• a good and sensible combination of UV filters, oils and other components of the formulation. The number of possible combinations is almost infinite. 

Comparisons are generally either misleading or far-fetched. In this case, however, a comparison is also simply fun. What do Formula 1 stars like Vettel, Hamilton etc. have in common with well-known manufacturers of sun creams, sun lotions etc.? Both use digitalisation to constantly improve and at the same time work more cost-effectively. 

While racing drivers want to familiarise themselves with new tracks in the simulator in their factories, find faster gearshifts and the right set-up for their vehicles, researchers and formulators in their laboratory can use BASF Care Creations^®️ Sunscreen Simulator digital tool to create sun protection products that completely fulfil their wishes and, above all, do what the end users need.

Driven by their curiosity, people actively explore their environment from an early age; they seek out new situations to learn from them. They manipulate hundreds of objects in their environment in many ways, and their curiosity only ends once they are familiar with the object or the situation or when they have solved the task that was set for them

EIBL-EIBESFELDT 1984, THE BIOLOGY OF HUMAN BEHAVIOUR

A globally relevant digital tool

The need for digitalisation in the research and laboratory sector was already recognised 20 years ago. Because the Sunscreen Simulator is by no means new, it is the pioneer. The field of application of the simulator extends far beyond the area of formulators. The digital tool not only serves the experts as students also work with it. Whether in South Africa, Germany or Australia – the Sunscreen Simulator is used worldwide. 

Thanks to continuous development and an ever-increasing wealth of experience, the results in the digital laboratory are getting ever closer to real life.

“We have carried out a large number of in vivo tests in recent years and compared the calculations of our Sunscreen Simulator with these results,” says Marcel Schnyder of BASF. “Based on these empirical values, there is a good correlation between in silico and in vivo.”

Additional features meet industry’s needs

Users are also provided with a user interface that constantly improves and becomes more comprehensive.

“Our customers can digitally simulate the UV protection of a new formulation without having to do the hard work in the laboratory,” emphasises Schnyder.

The place where the work takes place changes from the laboratory to the desk. In this way, costs for necessary in vivo tests can be enormously reduced for the manufacturer. 

The Sunscreen Simulator now serves as a recognised tool/benchmark in the industry to determine the sun protection factor (SPF). But the development continues. In addition to the known performance parameters (SPF, UVA protection, photostability), you can now perform calculations to protect against blue light irradiation and free radicals’ generation.

The implementation of EcoSun Pass is a tremendous step forward for formulators. In addition to the performance of their UV filter combinations and formulations, the environmental impact of the selected UV filter system can also be directly verified. 

The Solubiliser Simulator, a part of the Sunscreen Simulator that evaluates interaction between UV filters and emollients and provides information about the naturalness of the emollients, is also completely new. BASF experts are also available to help manufacturers find the right sun protection formulation. Access to some finished formulations helps in the search for the desired product.

• In vivo test: Derived from the Latin word vivus and associated with living life. Reactions on/in the living organism are tested.
• In silico test: Derived from the Latin word in silicio. Results are collected and evaluated using computer simulations. Working with the Sunscreen Simulator is an in silico test or in silico study.

Advantages benefit consumers

Thanks to the capabilities of the Sunscreen Simulator, manufacturers are able to significantly shorten the time to market for their products. Instead of the complex in vivo and in vitro studies, more research can be conducted in the laboratory and online to achieve better results, both faster and more cost-effectively.

Pure research has never been so close to life without in vivo studies, and formulators have never had more freedom in research and development than they do today. With the BASF Sunscreen Simulator – a digital tool with over 20 years of experience in development.

Get in touch with us for more about our leading sun care innovations.