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| Make your own sunscreen using 4 or 5 basic ingredients. |
My husband was
pretty skeptical when I informed him that from this day forward I would forever
be making my own sunscreen. I imagine he had visions of me in safety goggles
messing around with powdered chemicals in our kitchen…
”Its because
you read that Jessica Alba book right? The Honest Life??” he questioned
“I can
understand how you would think that. Its not so much that I read it – I don’t
even like Jessica Alba that much….” I struggled to explain.
“Let me guess
then, its more that she validated some of the ideas you already had?”
``Basically…Yeah.`
Well homemade
sunscreens have been getting a bad rap lately. I can understand why doctors and
health professionals probably are hesitant to recommend that we all start
mixing up sunscreen in our kitchen blenders - probably not a great idea when
you are dealing with potentially dangerous substances like titanium dioxide and
zinc oxide that could be harmful if say ingested or left laying around. Plus
who knows what adverse reactions could occur if people really started to experiment.
I mean after all, we really aren’t a bunch of chemists.
That being
said, I am not comfortable with the alternative of purchasing commercial
sunscreen. And I am not comfortable with the price of "natural" (which
for your information means absolutely nothing), or organic sunscreens (which
are doing some good work but are still pretty pricey for a family on a budget),
and many which - if you do your research - still may contain questionable
ingredients.
So I prefer to
make my own. I did alot of shopping around before I decided on this basic natural recipe
which I borrowed from Wellness Mama and adjusted. It is fairly simple in terms
of ingredients - you will have to order zinc oxide and beeswax - but other than
that you should always be able to whip up a batch with ingredients you have on
hand in about 10 – 15 mins. This is a key feature of this sunscreen recipe for me because I want to be able to make it as needed and avoid adding any preservatives. You don't have to use a blender, and you can make
a small batch without destroying your kitchen - because lets face it its not fun to try to wash beeswax and oil off of your blender and kitchenware!
I ordered my
zinc oxide and beeswax from New Directions Aromatics which you can find on the web. You
want to make sure it is non-nano - so the particles cannot be potentially
absorbed into your skin as one study has shown may be possible. You also want
to double -check and make sure that it is 100% pure and contaminant free. If
the company cannot guarantee this then its definetely not a good idea to make
sunscreen out of it. The minimal order will probably cost you about $20 bucks
and last you for years (you can always split it with a like-minded friend). But
its still unbeatably cheap considering its about $10 for a small tube of
sunscreen and much more for organic ones
.
At the end of
the day here it is, not dressed up in a cute mason jar with a bow on or in a
cute star-shaped bar. I must admit I had visions of myself as somewhat of a sunscreen-maker
extraordinaire – turning out a bounty of beautiful lavish product, but truth
be told its not pretty. Hopefully the fact that its not laden with chemicals
and preservatives will help you overlook this. Its solid and doesn't melt in
the sun, rubs into your skin without leaving a white residue, is somewhat
waterproof, easily transportable, was fool-proof to make and most importantly I
will not be putting crazy chemicals on my children’s skin. By my calculations this sunscreen is an SPF of approximately 28 (with about 1 SPF coming from the coconut oil). If you wanted a higher SPF you would add more zinc: http://www.instructables.com/id/Homemade-Sunscreen/step4/SPF-Table/ was the reference I used to make my calculations. SPF is determined by what percentage of the lotion you the zinc makes up; the higher the percentage the zinc, the higher the SPF. If you are striving for a particular SPF I would advise you to consult the chart and make your own calculations. Finally, this makes a body butter type of sunblock, if you are looking for more of a lotion consistency then you would use less beeswax.
Homemade Sunscreen
½ cup virgin
cold-pressed olive oil
¼ cup virgin
coconut oil (natural spf of 4)
¼ cup beeswax
beads
4 TBSP non-nano 100% pure contaminant-free zinc oxide
Optional: About 20 – 30 drops
essential oil (I used lavender - stay away from anything with citrus).
Optional: 1 tsp vitamin e oil (will extend the shelf life and offer additional sun protection benefits)
Before I
proceed with these instructions, understand I am not a chemist, doctor or
health care professional. I would advise you to do some of your own research to
determine if a homemade sunscreen is right for you (people have reported that they
burned wearing it, SPF values were not the same as those reported etc.) Bear in mind that my kids are olive-skinned and to us it is not vital that the SPF value is exact because they don't burn easily. I monitor them closely in the sun to watch for signs of burning and we don't go out on a regular basis for prolonged periods of sun exposure.
1) Boil a couple of inches of water in a pot. Put your olive
oil, coconut oil and beeswax in a clean mason jar or empty pickle jar.
2)Place your jar
in the boiling water, and turn the temperature down slightly (not enough to
stop the water from boiling). Cover loosely with the jar lid.
3)Boil until
your beeswax starts to melt, then stir until it until beeswax dissolves.
4)Remove from
heat and add non-nano zinc and essential oil if desired – being careful not to
breathe any of the particles! I held my breathe! Breathing particles = BAD.
5)Pour into a
clean container you would like to store the sunscreen
6)Put lid on
loosely and allow to cool, periodically stirring it to make sure zinc is
evenly distributed.
7) Store in a safe place away from the reach of children - in the interest of longevity your refrigerator is probably the best spot. But it doesn't need to be kept in the fridge and will stay solid at room temperature
7) Store in a safe place away from the reach of children - in the interest of longevity your refrigerator is probably the best spot. But it doesn't need to be kept in the fridge and will stay solid at room temperature
