Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Non Toxic Sun Block


So everyone's going on vacation this week, it seems. We were on vacay last week at the beach. If you've been reading this blog for a while you know that I don't use sunscreen 1. because of toxins and 2. because I like to get my vitamin D the natural way (did you know that RICKETS is making a comeback?). People don't spend enough time outdoors, so instead of getting people outside, the gov. just puts cheap vitamin D in milk. Eeek.

But I understand that some people need sunscreen, say if you're going to be on a boat all day. So I searched and searched to find a sunscreen//sunblock that doesn't have any hormone disrupting chemicals or crap like that. It wasn't easy.

Miessence is a company out of Australia, where they know their sun protection. I like their REFLECT Outdoor balm. Generally having a literal mineral block, like titanium dioxide, is preferable to some chemical like oxybenzone. This stuff is great in that uses ZINC OXIDE. Plus no parabens and crap like that.

The good/bad of this is that, well, it works well but it leaves a trace of a whitish sheen. To me, this shows that it's made of simple, good stuff and the zinc oxide stays on the OUTSIDE rather than all the weird nano particles and the chemical sunblocks absorbing into your skin. I have a good base tan, so I tried this on my pale tan lines, and it protected it really well.

But back to the Mother Nature thing--make sure you get SOME SUN. If you're out in the middle of the ocean at noon, then, this sunblock is a great product to have around.

Check out this article from the Environmental Working Group on how most sunscreens are toxic crap that dont' even work (hm, what else does this sound like?):

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has attacked leading sunscreen brands for offering inadequate protection against UV rays or containing potentially hazardous ingredients.

The consumer group said the top selling products were some of the worst offenders in its survey of the safety and effectiveness of 1,000 branded sunscreen products.

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