We love the DIY philosophy, especially when it comes to upgrading your bath and beauty products to make them simple, clean and amazing for your skin. Loving up our skin is very important, and that means avoiding skin products that have harsh chemicals… especially sunscreen!! We wear sunscreen to avoid the suns UV rays, but research is beginning to indicate that having those chemicals baked into our skin might not be the best thing for our skin (or the soaring cancer rates) either.
I have been working on perfecting an amazing sunscreen recipe to share with you all, and to be completely honest, it isn’t yet perfect. I have created a few different versions, and they always seem to be to chalky and hard to blend into the skin. However, I have been loving the research process in learning what types of oils and products do certain things for the skin. For example, I learned that carrot seed extract has a natural spf of 25-40 so simply adding that to your favorite lotion will give you some good protection. But, it won’t be waterproof. So, while I am busy perfecting the best DIYsunscreen, here are a list of our favorites for your summer outdoor activities!
Here are the list of things we care a lot about.
- Make sure it’s mineral based. This typically means zinc oxide or titanium dioxide. (We prefer zinc oxide.)
- Avoid parabens like the plague. These mimic estrogen and can be really problematic!
- Look for non-nano. This was the ingredient I have been playing with (non-nano zinc oxide) and non-nano means that the particles won’t absorb into the skin.
Honest: I love this company. They are clean, and truly value a quality product free of chemicals. Non-nano zinc oxide is the ONLY active sunscreen ingredient. (This is the ingredient I have been playing with that makes my sunscreen so chalky- but I have been using honest for me and my kiddos for the past month and LOVE it.) I also love that I just found it at my local Costco. Thank you Costco.
Alba You can find this at almost any store, and it’s a much better choice than conventional sunscreen. Our favorites are the ‘Very emollient Minerals Sunscreen. I used the spf coconut oil spray for a long time with my toddler, and it was really easy to apply. This isn’t the cleanest line on the market, but like we said, much better than your classic Banana Boat!
Raw Elements: This line is as clean as they come. All of their sunscreens are Non GMO and they have this cool tinted face stick that is amazing for your handbag.
California Baby: I love this line for everything when it comes to baby- and it smells amazing. Their sunscreen is great for sensitive skin and is fragrance free.
What are you fave sunscreens? We would love to know!
We hope this lists helps you find the best products for your family, and we promise to keep you posted as we polish up of favorite DIY Sunscreen recipe just for you!
