Sourcebook: Sunscreen

Though summer is winding down, protecting ourselves from the sun is still of the utmost importance – particularly in California, where sun is plentiful for much of the year. And while the best defenses against getting too much harmful UV radiation are protective clothing, shade and timing, finding safe and effective sunscreens is also key. After all, it takes only a few blistering sunburns during childhood to double a person’s lifetime chance of developing melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer.

When determining the right sunscreens for you, the EWG recommends avoiding all of the the following: 1. spray sunscreens 2. SPF above 50+ 3. Oxybenzone (which has been shown to disrupt the hormone system) and 4. Retinyl Palmitate (which can trigger skin damage). In addition, using the EWG rating system is a good way to find a sunscreen that is equal parts safe and effective. The system rates sunscreens from one to ten (one being best and ten worst), with the lowest (best) scores accompanying products whose ingredients pose no health concern, excellent UVA protection, and a great balance of UVA protection in relation to the SPF. Conversely, those with the highest (worst) scores include ingredients that pose a high heath concern, poor UVA protection, and a poor balance of UVA protection in relation to the SPF. With these tips in mind, here are a few of the sunscreens that I have found work well for our family:

For body, I like Suntegrity Natural Mineral Sunscreen SPF 30, Beautycounter Protect All Over Sunscreen SPF 30, and EltaMD UV Physical Broad Spectrum SPF 41. For face, I use EltaMD UV Clear Broad SPF 46 as my daily sunscreen and it doesn’t cause breakouts. Also great: Suntegrity 5-in-1 Tinted Natural Moisturizing Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 30, and Beautycounter Dew Skin Tinted Moisturizer SPF 20.

For the kids, I use all of the above body sunscreens on them as well, which is amazing. In addition, we use Suntegrity Natural Mineral Sunscreen for Baby SPF 30, Babyganics Mineral-Based Sunscreen SPF 50, The Honest Co. Honest Sunscreen Lotion SPF 30, and Coola Baby Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50. XXJKE