Say yespf!

Sunscreen Sans toxins

There’s something so magical about the winter sun, but that doesn’t give me an excuse to skip my sunscreen. Sunscreen is probably one of the most important steps of skincare and it has almost become an essential product. It’s the second skin we wear in order to protect the one we were born with (maybe she’s born with it or maybe it’s her sunscreen) 😛

I can’t exaggerate enough on the importance of wearing a sunscreen. While I am no skincare guru, I can vouch for sunscreens because I’ve literally seen the wonders it has done on my otherwise dull, dry and pigmented skin. From my daily moisturiser to my base for the foundation, I’ve used sunscreen for everything! It has become the hero product I’d been dreaming of, but recently my relationship with my hero product has turned a little rocky. Thanks to all the fake promises.

Although it almost does what it promises to do, there’s a hidden side to it which is printed in the smallest fonts right behind the packaging. Yes, I mean the list of chemicals/ingredients that go into the making of my hero a.k.a my sunscreen. So many chemicals present in our sunscreens cause havoc in our bodies (I hear PCOS!) and on the environment because they’re non-biodegradable which means they can’t be decomposed by bacteria and other living organisms.

Hold on! Read this before you take the plunge and decide to say yes to biodegradable sunscreens .

Biodegradable doesn’t always mean clean and non toxic.

Oxybenzone is biodegradable and it is the most commonly(read harmful) found ingredient in sunscreens, but it can mess with your body’s natural hormones.

So I made an extensive list of harmful chemicals in sunscreen which are the real deal breakers for me:

1. Oxybenzone (of course): It is one of the hormonally active ingredients which means it will disrupt your natural hormone cycle affecting the testosterone levels in men and estrogen levels in women.
2. Octocrylene and Octinoxate: I have a simple rule, if you can’t pronounce the name of the chemicals present in your product you don’t need to buy it. Although Oxybenzone is the real devil, the other two O’s are equally harmful, but they’re not as common as the big O. These two other O’s don’t mess with your hormones but can cause cancer in the long run (sunscreens are made to protect us against it).
3. Nano zinc oxide and titanium dioxide: While zinc oxide is one mineral which is safe for the environment and your skin, the nano particles can be toxic for the marine life.

Let me make sunscreen shopping simpler for you because I’ve done my homework and I wouldn’t want to put y’all through that:

1. Read the certifications on the package and on the brand’s website. Brands will greenwash you into buying their products, but a little knowledge won’t hurt anybody.
2. Read the ingredients thoroughly and make the right the choices. Avoid the three O’s.
3. If you can find a sunscreen with the Land and Sea Certification you will have hit the jackpot! Apart from that most of the actual clean and green brands (not greenwashed) are eco-certified so you can be rest assured about their environment friendly claims.
4. Look at the packaging. Being clean and green is good, but an environment friendly brand will also concentrate on its packaging. Usually, these sunscreens will be packed in recycled plastic containers, or glass or even tin/paper packaging.

Brands you can trust (I’ve read the labels so you don’t have to):

1. Juicy Chemistry Camellia and Red raspberry sunscreen
2. Forest essentials SunFluid sunscreen
3. Stream2Sea Sunscreen
4. ilana nourishing sun shield
5. Arata Sunscreen gel

Keep glowing sunshine! You deserve the purest and the best 😀

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