For your skin
A clever best-of-both-worlds filter that both soaks up and bounces UV, giving broad, stable protection with very low skin penetration. You will see it in modern broad-spectrum sunscreens, usually alongside Tinosorb S. Like the other new-generation filters, its only real drawback for US shoppers is that the FDA has not approved it yet.
Want the science? Keep reading ↓Mechanism of action
A hybrid filter: organic microfine particles that both absorb and scatter/reflect UVB and UVA (280-400 nm), combining chemical and physical mechanisms. Highly photostable and, because it works as a particle suspended in the water phase, it barely penetrates skin. Frequently paired with bemotrizinol for broad, stable coverage. EU/Asia/Australia approved; not FDA-approved.
Why we tier this moderate
1 cited paper across 1 country. The mechanism is well-described and there's at least one controlled trial in the literature, but we tier this Moderate rather than Strong to stay honest about how many specific papers we cite directly.
Cited research
Osterwalder U, Sohn M, Herzog B, Global state of sunscreens, Photodermatology, Photoimmunology & Photomedicine 2014;30(2-3):62-80 — comprehensive review of the worldwide UV-filter landscape, including the photostability and spectral coverage of the modern organic filters such as bisoctrizole (Tinosorb M)
Sources: PubMed · KCI · J-Stage · CNKI · Wanfang · SFD · MFDS · Cochrane · SCCS · CIR. Every entry points to a specific document. See methodology for what each outcome label means.