Last week I was fortunate to spend eight days on the beach. It was a blast! Each day I had a sunscreen routine, and I left the sun every evening without a single sunburn. In my little world that is quite the victory.
All of the sunscreens that I used are clean, safe and water resistant for up to at least 50 minutes. At first when I heard “clean and safe” about a sunscreen I thought well of course it’s safe because it’s keeping me from getting sunburned! I had NO idea how bad many name brand/main stream sunscreens can be until a friend of mine shared a scary article with me, http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2015/06/neutrogena-sunscreen-toxic-avoid/
Eeeek! Luckily I already had two of these products. Since I’m not pregnant and do not have children I didn’t feel too awful about finishing one of the toxic labeled sunscreens I already had in my beach bag on myself (I mean any sunscreen is surely better than none at all?), but now onto bigger and better things, and these three fit the bill perfectly… Just trying to get a little less cancer one step at a time, amIright?
My daily beach combination of clean, safe and successful sunscreen is as follows:
1. I started each day with an application of Beautycounter Protect, Broad Spectrum SPF 30, http://www.beautycounter.com/carolineclark. I like starting the morning with a lotion sunscreen then following up on the beach or at the pool with a spray. Some people suggest lotion for every application, but that is not realistic for me. This is a great one because it can go everywhere (body, face, etc.) and a little goes a long way.
2. La Roche Posay Tinted Face Sunscreen, SPF 50, http://m.target.com/p/la-roche-posay-anthelios-tinted-mineral-1-7-oz/-/A-14225598 This is everything my face needs in the summer – a little bit of makeup coverage and a lot of sunscreen. Done and done. I usually reapply this once during a day in the sun. I am also a huge fan of hats – wide brim, panama, baseball caps, doesn’t matter to me. I love them all.
3. SunBum SPF 30, http://shop.trustthebum.com/spf-30-original-spray-sunscreen/ SunBum has a nice, summery smell and goes on without a greasy feel. Plus that packaging! (I’m a sucker for good packaging, it’s fine).
Here’s to lots of time spent outdoors with no sunburns to prove it!
Adeline Alley 