In 1996, Japan Cosmetic Industry Association introduced the 3-levelled Protection Grade of UVA (PA) system to measure UVA protection, which is based on the widely used (and also Japan-developed) persistent pigment darkening (PPD) method.
The Japan Cosmetic Industry Association has adopted the new in-vivo ISO 24442:2011 (UVA) test method in 2012 and will be officially used in January 2013. The newly revised PA system will now be 4 levels (previously 3): PA+ to PA++++.
Protection Grade | PPD |
PA+ | 2 to less than 4 |
PA++ | 4 to less than 8 |
PA+++ | 8 to less than 16 |
PA++++ | 16 or above |
What does that mean for sunscreens in Japan? Beauty products with sun protection currently labelled to be PA+++ will need to be repackaged/reformulated/relabelled in order to comply with the new UVA labelling standard — that is, if they want to remain competitive. Many major Japanese cosmetics manufacturers have already announced their new PA++++ sunscreens for 2013.
Kanebo’s ALLIE Extra UV Gel (Mineral Moist) N, Shiseido’s Anessa Face Sunscreen BB, and Rohto’s Hada-Labo UV Creamy Gel launched last year are going to be relabelled to PA++++ (no change to ingredients)… which means their current UVA protection is already PPD 16+!
The rest of Shiseido ANESSA and Kanebo’s ALLIE sunscreen lineups will be reformulated to PA++++ — new sunscreens to be launched in February 21 and March 1 respectively. The exceptions are ALLIE Extra UV Protector (Whitening) N and ANESSA Whitening UV Protector which will remain PA+++.
Aside from reformulations, Kanebo is also releasing a few new sunscreen gels and daytime moisturisers with PA++++ this coming spring. They all use a combination of physical and chemical filters.
Shiseido will be launching a new sunscreen gel called ANESSA Perfect Gel Sunscreen A+, a luminising daily use sunscreen cream-gel with PA++++ that gives skin a smooth finish. All upcoming Shiseido ANESSA releases are fragranced.
Rohto is expanding its Mentholatum Skin Aqua sunscreen line to include Mentholatum Skin Aqua Sara-sara UV Shower, a sweat-absorbing aerosol sunscreen — but everything else remains the same. Oxy will have a new line of 3 sunscreens formulated especially to keep men cool and dry — all are SPF50+/PA+++ only. The entire Mentholatum SUNPLAY sunscreen line will be reformulated to PA++++ (except Baby milk). All will be released in mid-February 2013.
The only sunscreen from Kose’s Fasio line being reformulated to PA++++ is Fasio Airy Shield UV Gel but the company is also adding 3 new sunscreen gels and creams that are PA++++ in February 2013.
No announcements about new sunscreens from Kao (the company behind Biore) yet.
If you have a favourite PA+++ sunscreen that you can’t bear to part with (especially if it is by Kanebo or Shiseido), now would be a good time to stock up! Be sure to keep your eyes on RatzillaCosme in early 2013 for detailed information on all PA++++ sunscreens!