Listen Up Ginger’s- It’s Sunburn Season!!
I was totally that teen that would put on an SPF 4 and sit in the sun for 8 hours to try to bake myself into a bronze Hawaiian (my go to brand for sunscreen). I rarely burn, unless I visit Mexico in the middle of winter and decide to go sunscreen free for a day. When my daughter was born 3 years ago, I realized quickly that she shared my genes and not those of my slightly ginger husband. Rachel and I formulated our sunscreen when she was about a year old. The thing I loved the most about our sunscreen was that if she wanted to apply it and then lick her fingers (or eat it from the jar), she would be totally ok! And lucky for me, if I forgot to put it on her, the eastern european genes would kick in and she would come inside with a great tan.
Then baby number 2 came along and literally moments after birth, I seriously thought, “oh man, this one’s going to need sunscreen”. He got the ginger genes. Thankfully, I had a brand I could trust…mine. Do you know how much crap is in “baby safe” sunscreens? Once I had to hold myself back from kicking a massive display, as oxybenzone and retinyl palmitate were clearly listed in the “baby safe” ingredients. It’s amazing to me that major brand names, approved, for sale contain these known chemicals that are known hormone disruptors (oxybenzone) and can actually trigger sun damage related to melanoma (retinyl palmitate).
This weekend’s heat wave was my first time that I truly put our sunscreen to the test.. And man did it pass with flying colors! Rachel and I road tripped to Calgary for a series of markets where there were heat weather advisories for almost every day of our trip. She took the brunt of the work and ran our market booth while I played super mom and took 4 kids under 6 around Calgary for 4 days. I didn’t want to be stuck in a hotel room with children bouncing off the walls, so we spent the days outside going to parks, riding the train, walking the markets and running through fountains. On our day off, since the weather was so incredible, Rachel and I took the kids on a hike outside Canmore. Sunscreen was a must.
So what was so amazing about our sunscreen? (aka. Beach Fun)
- It was super easy to apply on all the kids. Because it’s in a jar, I even let the 3 year olds apply some of it themselves and didn’t have to worry about a whole tube getting squirted on the floor
- It’s naturally waterproof so I was totally comfortable letting them run through the fountains knowing that they were well protected
- It’s a wicked post-sun cream too! The zinc oxide, which is our active ingredient, will help to repair skin. This is what makes our diaper cream so effective. We’ve also added in Myrrh essential oil and green tea powder which are super soothing on the skin and will help to reverse damage from the sun. Our alcohol free base nourishes the skin, combating the drying effect of hot summers in Alberta.
- Only Rachel and I burned because we had failed to apply it on ourselves! Luckily, both of us used Beach Fun after to help and Rachel was super happy that she didn’t peel.
Most of us are becoming aware that sunscreen can be loaded with chemicals that are actually harmful. But it can get super confusing to know what to look for when you’re searching for a safe alternative. Here’s what I feel are important when searching for a safe sunscreen.
- Uses Zinc Oxide (preferably non-nano) Or Titanium Dioxide as the active ingredient. These are the only 2 ingredients approved by Health Canada and the FDA for organic certified sunscreens with broad sectrum coverage (UVA/UVB)
- Does not include oxybenzone, retinyl palmitate (vitamin A, vitamin A palmitate), fragrance, petroleum based ingredients or dye.
- Comes in a jar, a squeeze bottle or a pump sprayer. Aerosol sprays can be quite irritating, especially for children. These are also the ones that are being recalled for setting people on fire. That’s not a joke.
- Has ingredients that are naturally water proof like shea butter (butyrospermum parkii) & zinc oxide.
So do me a favor. Take the time to look at your sunscreen’s ingredients. If anything seems a little weird, check the Environmental Working Group (ewg.org) website to see if the ingredient is safe. Or you can just switch to ours, knowing that we believe what you put on your body is just as important as what you put in it.
Happy Summer!
Jay
