Summer is right around the corner and I thought this would be a good time to talk about Sunscreen. Protecting ourselves from the sun has become a booming industry to the tune of 1.2 BILLION dollars. But most people see it as a necessary expense and all we ever seem to hear is “wear sunscreen and be sure to reapply it often anytime you’re out in the sun!” I’ve read beauty magazines that tell you to wear sunscreen every day as part of your beauty regimen and most moisturizers have an SPF of 15 and its nearly impossible to find a foundation at a drug store that doesn’t have sunscreen built into it. But is all this sunscreen wearing doing us any good?
For the purpose of this article I’m going to skip a lengthy discussion about why sunscreens are dangerous. They are full of toxic chemicals that are absorbed into the skin and therefore our internal systems. According to Dr. Arthur Perry (a member of the Medical Advisory board for the Dr. Oz show) 9 of the approved ingredients for sunscreen are known endocrine disruptors (http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/your-sunscreen-might-be-poisoning-you).
In the past few years studies are even coming out that are LINKING sunscreen to skin cancer. There are conflicting studies and articles all over the place but one thing seems to be clear and that is that no one can say with certainty if wearing sunscreen protects you from skin cancer.
There are natural sunscreens out there but premade products that are natural tend to be much more expensive than conventional sunscreens. You still can’t be sure about their claims however, if you are going to go the route of manufactured sunscreen for sun protection we definitely advise you to seek out a brand with natural ingredients and definitely read the list of ingredients.
Of course the best most natural way to be safe when it comes to the sun is to limit your exposure during peak hours of intensity. If you do end up at the beach for the day bring an umbrella, hat and cover up.
If you need to wear sunscreen I recommend you try making your own. People seem to really love this recipe from wellnessmama.com http://wellnessmama.com/2558/natural-homemade-sunscreen-recipe/ you may have to order some of the ingredients online like zinc oxide which you need to make sure is non-nano and 100% pure.
Do you have any natural sunscreens that you like to use? Tell us about it in the comments below.
Image credit – www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net
