Choose Your Sunscreen Wisely

I would rather sit in the sun than put on sunscreen.  In most sunscreens, the chemicals that block UVA and UVB rays actually cause cancer themselves!  Prevent skin cancer with this crap that causes skin cancer.  Why companies are allowed to sell us this stuff is beyond me.  But, that's another rant for another time.  And, we shouldn't wear sunscreen every time we're outdoors.  Vitamin D is very important, and the best way we absorb it into our body is through some exposure to sunlight.

Lily's new sunhat

We keep Lily pretty covered.  Bought a new sunhat.  Usually have some light pants on her.  Sit in the shade.  Got some baby sunglasses (which she hates wearing, but loves to try to eat).  But, she still gets some exposure to sunlight.  We're going to go swimming this weekend, so it's time we bit the bullet and bought sunscreen.  We've been meaning to buy the Mercola sunscreen online, but we just hadn't gotten around to it.  When I said I was going to buy a sunscreen, it was really nice that Sean made that face that I make.  You know, the "OMG, you cannot just buy suncreen!  It causes cancer!!!!" face.  Actually, he didn't just make the face, he said his concerns out loud.  It's okay, honey.  Your crazy hippie wife already knows what to look for.

Before putting anything on your skin, you have to do your research.  Look for sunscreens that ONLY contain the UV-blocking minerals zinc oxide and titanium dioxide as active ingredients.  Apparently, these sunscreens don't disappear in the skin, but I'll take that over harmful chemicals.  Mercola has a list of ingredients to avoid:

I was at the organic market today and bought Alba's Natural Very Emollient Mineral Protection Fragrance Free Sunscreen.  Alba has a lot of different sun screens, but most of them contain the junk that we are trying to avoid.  It only has two active ingredients: zinc oxide and titanium dioxide. It still has a few more ingredients than the Mercola brand, but no parabens or cancer-causing UV blockers.

Mercola sunscreen ingredients: 

And, the FDA set new standards for testing and labeling of sunscreens for this year:

Products that pass the broad spectrum test will provide protection against both ultraviolet B radiation (UVB) and ultraviolet A radiation (UVA).  Sunburn is primarily caused by UVB.  Both UVB and UVA can cause sunburn, skin cancer, and premature skin aging.  A certain percentage of a broad spectrum product’s total protection is against UVA.

and

Water resistance claims on the product's front label must tell how much time a user can expect to get the declared SPF level of protection while swimming or sweating, based on standard testing. Two times will be permitted on labels: 40 minutes or 80 minutes.

Manufacturers cannot make claims that sunscreens are “waterproof” or “sweatproof” or identify their products as “sunblocks.”   Also, sunscreens cannot claim protection immediately on application (for example, “instant protection”) or protection for more than two hours without reapplication, unless they submit data and get approval from FDA.

That is great news.  Let's just stick with the minerals and cut the crappy chemicals.