Is Your SUNSCREEN Healthy???

Okay, so I honestly didn't think to do a post on sunscreen, because I'm sure people get bored with the whole 'Live A Healthy Life' topic I like to dwell on! After yesterday's THANK YOU VERY MUCH POST some of you asked if I could pass along the info on good sunscreen to use. One commenter even suggested I was 'teasing' you all by NOT mentioning it (ahem, Pam @ Kassie's Beach) :o) :o)

So, here we go…

Has your pediatrician ever told you not to use sunscreen on kids 12 and under?  Ten and under?  Has this topic come up at all?  Most pediatricians will tell you not to use ‘adult’ sunscreens on children because they contain hormones.  Yes.  Hormones.  In the sunscreen.  Among other toxic chemicals.  And even ‘infant’ sunscreens contain these.  Nasty!!!  I realize many people turn their noses up to info like this.  They get tired of hearing about it and think it’s really not a big deal.

How I wish I could open their eyes.

If I may say (then I’ll get off my health soap box) – just look us.  We are the sickest generation of people that ever lived on this earth.  People haven’t changed over the years, but what we eat, wear, drink and do has changed.  Our environment is polluted beyond belief with toxic chemicals in our drinking water, bathing water, the air, fabric, food, skin care products, etc.  We put so much in and on us and we don’t even think twice as to what we are doing.  When you are slathering your body with chemicals – don’t you realize that these products are absorbing into your skin and into your bloodstream? So, yes, it does make a difference.  Since the 1930’s –1940’s – our country industrialized and it’s gotten to the point where convenience and education are now causing us to live sick, depressed, lonely lives.  We live longer, but we spend the last 20 years of our lives in nursing homes, incoherent of what’s going on around us, drugged up, in pain, mentally gone – and this is suppose to be good?  To live to be 95 LIKE THIS?  I don’t think so.  And as far as my family and myself, I am making sure our life is a life full of quality, health, being in our right mind and living at our optimum level.

Ahem.  Now, back to sunscreen.

Fact is, commercial brands are full of toxic chemicals that aren’t good for you or your kids.  Of course Coppertone will dispute this fact, but why wouldn’t they?  They won’t come against what makes them profitable – selling millions of dollars worth of sunscreen, sun block and tanning oil every year.  Recent research has shown that some sunscreens, because of their components, actually will make it easier for your body to develop malignant skin cancer. 

Nice.

I’m not a big sunscreen applier and it really freaks people out.  Especially when it comes to my kids.  Ahhh, they’re going to get skin care cancer.  Whoa – bring it down a notch peeps!  I won’t intentionally harm my kids – but lather them up like they’re going to stand ON the sun - just to run around the yard – forget it.  Even though the ozone layer is thinner and it’s easier for UV rays to get to us, the sun and the benefits of the sun are still AMAZING and are a HUGE part of keeping our bodies healthy.  Seriously.  You should allow yourself time in the sun SANS sunscreen or sun block - everyday.  It’s good for you.  Wear a hat to help shield your face if you must – but GET.SUN.ON.AND.IN.YOUR.SKIN.  Try to get at least 20 minutes of exposure to sun a day.  You’ll feel the difference.  When our skin tans, that is our ‘natural’ sunscreen.  It’s our body’s way of protecting itself from dangerous UV rays.  Amazing, isn’t it?  But we are constantly interfering by coating our bodies in sunscreen, we are disrupting that process.  You will get a dose of Vitamin D that no fortified milk can give you!  A straight shot into your veins, right from the sun.  Talk about a high!  Truth is most sunscreens are hormone disruptors.  They whack out your hormones.  NOT.GOOD.  And the simple fact that you’re putting into your body tons of synthetic chemicals is just wrong.  There are safe, alternative sunscreens that work BETTER than commercial, toxic brands.  It’s worth the switch and the cost difference is hardly noticeable!

I could talk all day, but then you’ll leave, so I’ll get going with the sunscreen that I’ve used for 2 years now after researching the dangers of commercial sunscreen brands and I’ll let you know the newest one I use for my face and on my kiddos faces as well!  I also have a website you can visit below – for more detailed info and other good and bad brands!

Right now I use ones that have zinc oxide and/or titanium oxide.  Some research says both have some cons to them – but when compared to other ingredients, I felt that these were safe to use – until something even better comes along.

I always carry with me the brand: BADGER 

You can read some info on the safety levels of this brand, here.  I use the SPF 15.  The higher the SPF, the more zinc oxide will be used, so I stick to the smaller SPF.  And in case you didn’t know a high SPF number doesn’t mean it shields UV rays better.  It just means that you won’t burn as quick (don’t need to reapply as often).  If you usually burn in 10 minutes, using and SPF 15 will prolong the burning for 150 minutes.  Make sense? (10 minutes x 15 = 150 minutes).

Directions For Use:
For full protection, apply an ample white coat to all exposed skin, then rub in to reduce whitening effect. Some separation may occur. Knead tube before use. Reapply after swimming and sweating as needed. Children under 6 months of age: ask a doctor.

Active Ingredient: Micronized Zinc Oxide 12.5%
Inactive Ingredients: *Olea Europaea (Extra Virgin Olive) Oil, Cera Alba (Beeswax), *Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Oil, *Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Butter, *Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Essential Oil of *Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender), and CO₂ Extracts of *Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary), and *Hippophae Rhamnoides (Seabuckthorn Berry).

I buy it at Whole Foods.  It’s great.  It’s thick and a tad greasy (some people don’t think it is, maybe it’s just my skin), but I’ll take that over toxic.  Just sayin…

Then the lady who makes my moisturizers and other cool hand made skin care products just developed a Natural sunscreen containing the zinc oxide and titanium dioxide in small levels.  I ADORE this stuff.  I use it on my face daily – and half the time I use it AS my moisturizer – because it’s like a cream.  It’s not greasy on me – and I tend to lean towards having oily skin.  I don’t break out.  I don’t itch.  I don’t get rashes.  I.AM.SO.HAPPY.WITH.THIS.PRODUCT.  I also put in on my kids’ faces since it’s not greasy.  I’m out in the sun daily and I haven’t burned (my face) with all my exposure.  The stuff works.  Now, as for the farmer’s burn on my back – that’s another story and that was my fault :o)

Anyhoodle…she doesn’t have a website or an Etsy site as of now – but if you would like her contact info, email me and I’ll give it to you.  I just don’t want to splash her info all over bloggy land without her permission.  She is a nurse and went to school for ‘natural skin care’.  She’s very knowledgeable with this kind of stuff.  She has a small and large size (I think an 8 and 10 oz – I think, don’t quote me on it) and the price is $5 for the small and $8 for the larger size.  Amazing!  The ingredients for her sun block are: Purified water infused with green tea, organic canola oil, organic coconut oil, zinc oxide, beeswax, titanium dioxide, vegetable glycerine, green tea extract, vitamin E, essential oils and scents.

For more info on good and bad sunscreens, you can visit this website:  Environmental Working Group.

Below are a couple things I had copied at some time or other and as always, I’m sorry I don’t know the sources.  That’s terrible of me, I know.  I copy so much stuff for my own research and notes, I don’t always get the source, especially when I’m on the internet.  I usually try to find several sources with the same info and proof of medical studies before I take anything as fact.  You can find any info you want on the net and it isn’t always right!

-  A recent study that has been backed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) states that Oxybenzone in sunscreens is linked to health complications including allergies, cell damage and hormone disruptions.

-  There are several safety concerns that are starting to surround chemical sunscreens. Chemical sunscreens can actually increase the risk of cancer as through the neutralising of UV rays, the agents themselves can actually be carcinogenic. Many sunscreen agents such as octyl-methoxycinnamate, octyl-dimethyl-PABA, benzophenone-3, homosalate, and 4-methyl-benzylidene camphor are known to be endocrine disrupters. The endocrine system controls the levels of hormones in the body and these agents have been shown to disrupt levels of estrogen in the body. Even young children’s hormones are being affected as traces of chemical sunscreens are found in the mother’s breast milk. The higher the SPF, the more toxic the sunscreen. Natural sunscreens are physical blocks that sit on the skin and do not need to be reapplied. Chemical sunscreens, however, rely on the chemical properties and thus need reapplying every few hours as the ingredients become inactive.

Have a great weekend!  It’s suppose to be cool and rainy here over the next couple of days.  Big change from our high 80’s and low 90’s this week! A little bummed since I need to even out my beautiful burn – hehe!

 

“Time's fun when you're having flies!”

Kermit the Frog

“He who does not get fun and enjoyment out of every day needs to reorganize his life.”

George Matthew Adams