How to Make Your Own Homemade Sunscreen

Homemade Sunscreen

Three reasons you should make your own:

1. Cost: Compare Jason Natural sunblock $11.29/4 oz. to making your own: $4.25/5 oz
2. Control your ingredients: zinc oxide offers the best sun protection with a low hazard rating (per EWG). You can create a high or low SPF when you make it yourself.
3. Four ingredients and 30 minutes is all you need.

Instructions: Melt ½ oz beeswax, 2 oz shea butter, and 2 oz coconut oil using the double boiler method (Pyrex or glass container with ingredients, sitting in a pot of  boiling water until mixture is melted).

Remove from heat. Add 1 oz (2 TBS) zinc oxide to melted mixture and using a stick blender, blend until all zinc oxide is well-blended. Pour into a glass or plastic container. Sunscreen is ready when solidified.

This is approximately 30 spf – I wouldn’t add more zinc oxide than the recipe calls for unless you can handle the extra “whiteness” which might be difficult to rub into the skin. Use less zinc oxide for a lower spf. 

For a video and more summer skin care recipes, see the My Buttered Life ebook. 

Zinc (aka Zit) Stick: to be or not to be?

Some of you may have seen my plea for guinea pigs in early February:

I ended up with 50 zinc testers.

Turns out, acne doesn't have an easy answer, like I had hoped. Here's an example of the survey results:

Although some people were helped by the zinc stick, it's not something I want to pursue unless there's a real demand for it. On the other hand, there's potential, as a few testers have run out of the sample and are asking for more. 

So here's what I plan to do: if there's enough of a demand, I'll offer it for sale at a reduced price for awhile (email me if you're one of those demanding it). I'll also add it as a free sample add-on for repeat customers (email me if you're not familiar with how this works). Fair enough?

In the meantime, those of you who struggle with acne need to check out Crunchy Betty's e-book, Food on your Face.  I read it last month and the introduction alone should have prepared me that not all skin can be dealt with in the same way. Crunchy Betty is the expert when it comes to acne, blemishes, pimples and oily skin. She offers a variety of solutions, from a baking soda wash, to easy toners, and even a few natural make up hacks that include food (I'm anxious to try the activated charcoal and aloe vera gel for a natural mascara). She also has a section on the oil cleansing method, which I've dabbled with and believe works well. She also suggests a zinc supplement (confirming my belief - zinc is good both outside and inside the body). There's much more. Sound intriguing? Click here to view more details

(Full Disclosure: After purchasing and reading her e-book, I decided it was a great one to share, and I've also added myself as an affiliate to promote Crunchy Betty's book.)

So there you have it: acne doesn't have an easy answer (or we all might have actually enjoyed jr. high!), but with Crunchy Betty's e-book, and the opportunity to keep using the zinc stick for free, maybe we'll conquer a few more pimples. 

If you have any ideas or success stories, do share below!

SPF? Sunscreen or No Sunscreen? Zinc Oxide? Vitamin D?

It used to be that we were warned to stay out of the sun at all costs... don't leave home without the sunscreen... lather up in the highest SPF possible... always wear a hat... and if you must venture outdoors, go before 10 a.m. or after 3 p.m.

The problem with this, according to Dr. Mercola, is that "wearing sunscreen effectively blocks your body’s production of vitamin D, which happens naturally when your skin is exposed to sunlight. In fact, sunscreens reduce vitamin D production by as much as 97.5 to 99.9 percent."

The article goes on to say that the flip side is that you don't want to get burned.

The happy balance is to slowly expose your skin to the sun a little at a time each day. If you do need to be outdoors to the degree that you risk sunburn, then do the following:

• wear a hat
• use a sunscreen containing the minerals zinc oxide or titanium oxide as the base for sunscreen protection.  They don't penetrate the skin like other chemicals used in lotions, and unless you are inhaling the powder, they are completely safe
• wear "strategic clothing" - cover where you need to
• start small and build up the amount of time spent outdoors

Since the diaper rash cream contains zinc oxide, it doubles as a sunscreen.  My guess on the spf is around 10-15 (based on 6% zinc oxide; Dr. Mercola's formula has 7%, which he says is a 15 spf). It gets bonus points for containing coconut oil, the food of the tropics.

Read the rest of Dr. Mercola's article for more on ways to find out if your sunscreen is safe, and what makes UVB the good guy and UVA the bad guy when it comes to ultraviolet light.

Ever Have Your 2 Year Old Get A Hold of the Desitin?

I was two and my brother was a year old. Somehow we managed to get a hold of the Desitin when my mom wasn't looking and apparently covered each other with it. My mom still reminds me of it.

This morning I walked into the room to find my own two year old with the diaper rash cream I use on him. Thankfully the ingredients are safe and since he likes to rub it all over his face, I don't have to worry about kissing a fish - it's unscented.