It's Summer...Almost! Time to make Non-Toxic Sunscreen

I've been asked a number of times about the sunscreen that I make. I was reminded of this today when my cheeks actually got a little pink from being outside at high noon. Not complaining...it was a loooooooooooooong winter in Maine this year. Like debating whether to sell it all and live in an RV in Mexico kind of long. No seriously it sucked ass. Anyway....it was sunny and warm today and I thought it was time to break out the sunscreen.

Regular sunscreen has lots of toxic chemicals and even the organic, "natural" kinds still often have fragrances, preservatives and other additives that you don't want to be absorbing into your skin. It IS your largest organ by the way. If you are the type that feeds your kids all organic veggies, buys $20 dollar organic baby soap (guilty!) and obsesses about pretty much anything that touches their skin or goes in their mouth....then you should be making your own sunscreen. And yes, that's yours truly.

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So here is the recipe. Buy all organic of course. It's been tested on my whole family including me, Maddie and Daddy in Maine too. It appears to work just fine, with no major sunburns for two years, and no sunburns at all on, most importantly, the baby (now toddler, sniff sniff).

This is about 20-30 SPF and if you add the optional first two oils below, it will be even more. You can get all the ingredients at Whole Foods or probably any natural foods store with the exception of the zinc oxide, which I order online.

Ingredients: 1/4 cup olive oil or grape seed oil 1/2 cup coconut oil 1/4 cup beeswax (makes it slightly waterproof) 2 TBS shea butter 3 TBS non-nano Zinc Oxide

Optional: Had to find these online too. Remember to look for organic. 1/2 teaspoon red raspberry seed oil (28-50 SPF) Also good if you get a sunburn due its anti inflammatory effects. 1/2 teaspoon carrot seed essential oil (38-40 SPF) 20 drops Rose Geranium essential oil (natural tick repellent!)

Directions:  Melt coconut oil, beeswax and shea butter in a glass jar by submerging in hot/boiling water Add other oils and zinc oxide powder Remove from heat and stir until thoroughly mixed Stir every few minutes as it cools Place in fridge when it's cooled enough to avoid the glass cracking with the temperature change Remove from fridge when hardened Use within 6 months