Just in time for winter! Sunscreen recipe!
My timing might not be particularly awesome. On the other hand, the sun does shine year round. (Although it isn’t making much of an appearance here today).
This recipe makes a sunscreen that contains emollient ingredients as well as zinc oxide. Shea butter and avocado oil also offer a small amount of sun protection factor (SPF 4-6). No matter what sunscreen you choose, follow the recommendations of the American Cancer Society for maximum benefit. Sun is serious.
SUNSCREEN
6 T. avocado oil
3 T. shea butter
1 T. beeswax
1 tsp. soy lecithin
1 capsule vitamin E
1 T. aloe vera gel
2 T. zinc oxide
3-5 drops essential oil (optional)
Melt the shea butter and beeswax in a double boiler. (If you want to see what this looks like, see photo in our Lotion Bar Recipe post.)
Wisk in the avocado oil, lecithin, aloe vera gel, zinc oxide, and essential oil.
(I like to whir it in the food processing container of my immersion blender.)
This sunscreen leaves a white sheen on skin from the zinc oxide, but it is not opaque. It is moderately oily and very conditioning.
I get my zinc oxide from here, but it is available from other soaping/cosmetics type suppliers as well.
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What SPF is the final sunscreen product?
I really do not know. I think that would take a lot more skill than I possess to determine that. A laboratory thing.
From http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=603356 :
“I took about two cups of shea butter and mixed in about a teaspoon of titanium dioxide. I was trying for a ratio of about 10:1, because it looked like the commercial sunscreens used about that much.
…
The suncreen worked fine for myself and my toddler son last summer but we never overdid it in the sun; we tried to avoid being out between 11 and 2, we wore hats, and we increased our exposure to the sun gradually. In fact by the end of the summer we could skip the sunscreen altogether– though we still avoided the hottest sun times.”
When working with homemade sunscreen and zinc oxide, you really need to use weight measurements, not volume. As for SPF, current spf testing and fda regulations are flawed and highly inaccurate. It is based on human sunburn testing in a controlled lab environment that hardly mimics real world situations. Consumers are better off paying close attention to their own skin’s reaction as opposed to relying on SPF. But as a general rule for conventional (not micronized) zinc oxide, the higher the concentration and more opaque the application, the more UV rays it shields. You do not need a thick opaque layer to be protected though. Even a thin layer will give some protection. You just have to decide how much whitish tint is acceptable and adjust your sun protection accordingly (i.e. seek shade, clothing, hats, etc…). A side benefit of making your own safe zinc oxide based sunscreen is that you can experiment with color and tint your cream with iron oxides or mica. More details at:
http://www.wabisabibaby.com/blog/category/skin-care/sunscreen/
Cindy–I love your comment, it makes such good sense. Thanks for the benefit of your wisdom, I learned a lot.
What do you think the equivalent SPF is? I’m not sure what SPF means really anyway other than higher is better. All seem to do about the same to me. I was going to try this recipe – http://www.marilynfarms.com/blog/make-your-own-bug-repellants-and-sunscreens.html
Jeremy–I’ve always heard SPF was “sun protection factor” (but TCBY used to be This Can’t Be Yogurt and now it’s The Country’s Best Yogurt, so I won’t promise anything). I don’t know how to grade sunscreens, most likely a very technical process (involving monkeys doing the macarena).
Seriously, though *sigh*, I’m digressing. I wish I could help more in this, but I’m afraid to guess since sun protection isn’t anything to play around with and I don’t want to lead anyone astray.
The recipes you linked sound cool, maybe she can help with the SPF information. Sorry I’m so useless.
Hello there,
is using 40% zinc oxide too much daily?
I am looking at baby rash stuff with 40% zinc ox.
thank you!
abeer–Zinc oxide is considered safe to use. Some concern over the nanoparticulate/micronized form of zinc is out there, mainly because it hasn’t been completely studied, but the kind you are referring to (the kind in most baby rash ointments–the white stuff) is believed to be one of the safest kinds of sunscreen and I think 40% is well within normal use.
I wanted to try mixing Zinc oxide cream (10%) into my regular sunscreen for better protection against UVA rays. I can already get enough UVB protection (by SPF rating), but want more UVA protection because that is what is supposed to cause skin damage, wrinkles, etc.
I don’t really see the point of wearing it if you estimated that that SPF was 4-6 because that is almost like wearing nothing at all…Unless this had better UVA protection, but focused on burn.
Do you have any insight on this factor? Thanks.
Angel–SPF is such a complex issue that it makes my head spin. Very possibly I had better confine my recipes to moisturizing lotion, but I do use this recipe myself because I was unable to find a laboratory-tested commercial version that left out all the chemicals I was wary of. One can adjust the amount of zinc oxide to get up to the “lifeguard nose” level of protection with the accompanying level of whiteness but it’s not something I want for my whole body–yikes! run! it’s the scary white lady! I know what a serious issue this is so I don’t pretend to be an expert and I advise doing everything possible to make certain the best level of sun protection is achieved in addition to my amateur concoctions.