The #1 Ingredient to Avoid in Sunscreen

I was enjoying a lovely dinner with a new friend and long time Colorado local…and might I add, she has beautiful and youthful skin. She shared a bit of shocking news with me, and that was that I had to wear sunscreen every day, even if I don’t leave the house!

Feeling a little uneducated, I combed the internet for highly researched products, and the Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) website to find information that would serve me and my clients.

Here is what I know to be true…

The skin is our largest organ and protects us from everything that could cause us harm. It would make sense that anything we put on it would be quickly absorbed into our system and that we should do our best to apply only the best and toxic-free products!

Sunscreen is a unique body care product: consumers are directed to apply a thick coat over large areas of the body and reapply frequently. Thus, ingredients in sunscreen should not be irritating or cause skin allergies, and should be able to withstand powerful UV radiation without losing their effectiveness or forming potentially harmful breakdown products. People can potentially inhale ingredients in sunscreen sprays and ingest some of the ingredients they apply to their lips, so ingredients must not be harmful to lungs or internal organs. Further, sunscreens commonly include ingredients that act as “penetration enhancers” and help the product adhere to skin. As a result, many sunscreen chemicals are absorbed into the body and can be measured in blood, breast milk and urine samples. *Source – EWG

I also learned that damaging rays from the sun can actually come through the glass windows of your home and your car. So protecting your face, hands and any other areas exposed is of utmost importance.

What I love about the EWG website is that you can input your sunscreen brand and it will grade your product on where it rates with having potentially harmful ingredients.

After combing through recommendations and consulting several different experts in this area, I found a product that I love – Supergoop (Especially the travel size with the attached lip protection). I just got it for traveling and popping right in my purse or climbing bag so I can stick to my new habit of applying twice a day.

Top sun care tips that I didn’t know about good sunscreen practice:

1. AVOID sunscreens with oxybenzone. The EWG has reviewed the existing data about human exposure and toxicity for the nine most commonly used sunscreen chemicals. The most worrisome is oxybenzone, which was added to nearly 65 percent of the non-mineral sunscreens in EWG’s 2018 sunscreen database. Oxybenzone can cause allergic skin reactions (Rodriguez 2006). In laboratory studies it is a weak estrogen and has potent anti-androgenic effects (Krause 2012, Ghazipura 2017). *Source – EWG
2. You need to wear it even if you are not going outside. Who would have thunk?
3. You must reapply! I think twice a day is an adequate dose, if you haven’t been using it all than once in the morning is better than none at all.
4. You really want to use between SPF 30-50 on your face. I might be more apt to stick to SPF 30 on my face in North Carolina, but here SPF 50 is really necessary. And above and beyond that (SPF 70) is not necessary, and should be avoided, as recommended by the EWG.
5. Hit your hands and face when you are behind the wheel.
6. Vitamin C is raved about by so many dermatologists and experts in skin care because SO many research studies have shown that in the right form it can help reverse sun damage. BINGO, sign me up! After much research, this is the product that is the best bang for your buck – MAD HIPPIES.
7. Want to take care of the crow’s feet by those sweet eyes? The eyes are the gateways to our soul and the tissue is unique and needs special attention…Avalon Eye cream.

Don’t beat yourself up for not knowing what you didn’t know…you learn everything right as you are ready to implement and understand. So jump on board and start taking care of that beautiful skin of yours! It’s never too late!

I would love to hear if you have any tips about sunscreen or favorite products! Leave a reply below or shoot me an email here.