Try THIS Tuesday: Hannah’s Favorite Natural Sunscreen
Note from Collin:
Do you have a product you love? We definitely have many favorite products here on the Hip2Save Team, and thought it would be FUN to share some of them with you! I personally love product recommendations and I’ve also had a few requests from readers, so I have asked each member of the team to think of products they love (cosmetics, kitchen gadgets etc.) and to write up a post that will be shared here every Tuesday. Hannah, my sidekick, is sharing one of her favorites…
Hi all! It’s Hannah here, one of Collin’s sidekicks!
I am fairly new to making the switch to more natural products when possible, and one of the most difficult product switches for me has been sunscreen.
Sunglasses & Hat Required!
As you can see from this picture, I have super pale skin so I burn very easily which is frustrating for my inner beach bum! 😊 A hat, sunglasses, and usually an umbrella seem barely enough to keep me from burning! My husband and I love to just hop in the car and go every chance we get, and even on fairly short road trips my arms definitely get some sun.
With that said, I needed to find a sunscreen that I would feel good about using and that actually worked. After doing some research, I decided to order Beyond Coastal Active Sunscreen from Amazon.
Getting used to the lower SPF on the labels of natural sunscreen products definitely took some getting used to, and I was a bit terrified applying SPF 34 when I am used to applying SPF 85 or higher! I thought surely I was going to be fried.
To my surprise though, I applied this sunscreen as normal on a trip to Florida during an extremely sunny day and did not get burned! I did reapply quite often (about every hour or so).
Another favorite feature of this sunscreen is that there is not a strong smell at all. Plus, the texture feels only slightly thicker than sunscreen I grew up using and it rubs in much easier than other natural sunscreens I have tried.
As a comparison, I previously tried Alba Very Emollient Mineral Sunscreen and it was like layering on glue and the smell was unbearable! 😬 And even though it felt super thick, I still got burned with it on.
I hope this helps some of you who may be looking for a new sunscreen to try! I can’t guarantee that it will work for everyone but it may be worth a try if you are looking for a natural sunscreen to try out!
I’d like to read the ingredient list on this. I didn’t see it on Amazon. I usually buy California baby sunscreen from target. That’s the best one I’ve found without harmful chemicals.
Hi Shannon! My bottle has the following active ingredients listed:
Avobenzone 3%
Octinoxate 7.5%
Octisalate 5%
Octocrylene 6%
It also states: Fragrance Free, Gluten Free, Oxybenzone Free, Paraben Free, Vitamin A Free
The full list with the inactive ingredients is on Amazon (I didn’t see the ingredients on mobile, but I did from a computer). It is rated #2 on the EWG site. There were better rated ones available, but compared to the sunscreens I previously used, this one rated much better:) I will have to check out the California Baby Sunscreen too, thanks!
Is other sunscreen harmful for you…?
I chose the Alba because it is reef safe. I chose a different variety, so hopefully it isn’t stinky or like glue! Apparently many ingredients in normal sunscreens cause coral bleaching.
Oh that’s great to know about Alba! I will definitely have to look into that. Haha yeah I think I just picked a bad variety of the Alba, many people love it but I picked an “unscented” one, but I think I should have tried one that had a scent! I do love Alba Shampoo & Conditioner though!
A higher SPF isn’t necessarily better, as SPF 30 blocks 97% of the sun’s rays anyway. The most important thing is to apply a sunscreen that’s photo-stable (the ones w/ zinc oxide or titanium dioxide are best, otherwise look for one w/ avobenzone + octocrylene), to use enough of it (at least 1/4 tsp for the whole face, plus more for the body obviously), and to re-apply it often (which most people just don’t do).
Personally, I love Elta MD’s UV Clear sunscreen- it’s not only effective but also cosmetically elegant, as it doesn’t leave a white cast on my golden complexion! Win-win.
Thank you for the info, this is very helpful! I will have to look into the Elta as well, it sounds great!
Many (most?) readily available store-bought sunscreens are crazy full of chemicals that are harmful to our bodies. Short article here, but there is a lot of information available elsewhere about the ingredients in mainstream sunscreen: http://www.ewg.org/sunscreen/worst-kids-sunscreens/.
Thanks for much for posting a review Hannah! I have tried a few natural sunscreens and the consistency/smell, etc., has not been that great. There are so many natural options available and some are so expensive to just try out–I’ll definitely get this one out this summer!
No problem, Betsy! 🙂 I’m glad I am not the only one that has had trouble finding one without a weird smell, etc! Yeah some of them are very pricey, and I have not tried many of those either! It is hard to pay so much for a small amount of product without knowing if it will work, especially when it requires a lot of use!
Just a thought: I’m pretty sure if you purchase sunscreen at Whole Foods you can return it if it doesn’t work!
Oh that is AWESOME! I didn’t know that. Thanks, Ashley!
This is not a natural sunscreen because it contains the chemical Avobenzone. Besides it being a chemical it only lasts for 30 minutes and breaks down when exposed to sunshine! I’ve tried all sorts of sunscreens and the safest one I found is from Dr. Mercola