Natural Sunblock

Over the past month or so, I've been experimenting with "natural" or "chemical free" sunscreen products to find the best product for the most reasonable price - not the easy task I originally thought it would be! I've compiled my completely unscientific findings for you here.

Experiment #1: Browse the options at Whole Foods. This is where I thought I would find the largest selection, which was true, but the prices were all over the board and an average consumer would have trouble determining what the difference is from one brand to another. I finally settled on JASON Family Sunblock with an SPF of 36. The label says that it is Water Resistant and Paraben Free. 4 ounces cost about $7.00.

I took my new purchase to a backyard pool party with friends and liberally applied it. Everyone commented on the pleasant smell although we all poked fun at the marketing of it as "Family" sunblock - what makes that so?? Who knows.... Bottom line - the cream was easily absorbed into my skin and I didn't burn. However, when I dipped my legs into the pool, the sunblock came right off in the water - I guess it would cost a fortune to reapply as needed if you and your family were in and out of the water, but this was the best one I found for general sun protection. As for the active ingredients, the three main sunscreens are rated from a 4 to an 8 on a scale of 1-10 (10 being worst) by the Skin Deep database so it's not that "natural" of a choice. www.cosmeticsdatabase.com


Experiment #2: Find the best sunscreen on the Skin Deep database. I thought this would be simple. Search "sunscreen" and buy the first one rated "0" or "1" in terms of dangerous ingredients. My search results gave me one "0" rating - Soleo Organics Sunscreen. It is $20 for 2.8 ounces. Considering that it takes an ounce to properly cover your skin, I find this way too expensive. Numbers 2-4 on the list, with a "1" rating, were similarly priced. Finally, I decided on #5, rated a "3" called Mexitan with an SPF of 30. It's label proclaimed that it is all natural, water resistant with no harsh chemicals. It was $16.95 for 8 ounces - more than I'd like to spend, but better priced that the most organic choices.

I took this purchase to a family weekend in Sonora where we lounged by the pool as the temp hit 108. As I rubbed it in, I noticed two issues - first, if you rub just a bit too much, the lotion starts pilling and rubbing off your skin and second, it never completely rubs into your skin leaving a whitish cast on my already translucent skin! This product however, kept me from burning and didn't come off as easily in the water.

Experiment #3: Ask friends. After asking around to my friends, the only recommendation I got for a natural sunscreen was to try Burt's Bees. The nice thing about Burt's is that you can find it everywhere for about $7.00 for 3.5 ounces. The label claims that it is a chemical-free sunscreen, non-whitening and 100% natural. Well, I'll have to disagree with the non-whitening claim as the SPF 30 formula left me ghostly white! As with the others, I didn't burn, but it wasn't pretty as I lounged by the lake for days on vacation. The Skin Deep database gives this formula an overall rating of "4", but that is because of it's superior sun protection. The health hazard is rated a "6" out of 10.

After all this, I don't think I've found a great sunscreen in the natural category yet. The JASON was the only one that didn't leave a thick, white layer on my skin, but I'm sure that's due to the additional chemicals. The Mexitan and Burt's didn't come off as easily in water but went on heavy and didn't absorb into my skin. In the end, I will probably rotate through the three depending on the activity I'm planning knowing that I won't burn in the sun and all of them are a better choice in terms of chemicals than the current popular brands on the market.

If you've found a favorite - let me know and I'll try it out!

Bees & Trees

I apologize for the long absence of posts. Other than the typical "wow, I've been busy", I was having all kinds of login issues with blogger and was finally able to login again! That being said - it is the height of summer and the trees in my yard are all blooming! I have two large trees in the middle of my backyard that shade everything. I find this to be a really good thing as my yard is considerably cooler on a hot day than you might expect - combine that with a covered patio with a ceiling fan and I can enjoy my yard on even the hottest days - like today!

Since we moved here just over two years ago, I have been trying to figure out what these trees actually are. I've searched online, in my Western Garden Book, asked everyone who has come to my house and nobody knew. I see these trees all over Roseville so it was surprising that I couldn't figure it out. Finally, my mom and I were on a garden tour back in May where I cornered a Master Gardener to figure out the mystery and she groaned when I described it to her (never good!) It turns out I have two Chinese Tallow Trees - messy (I already knew that) and incredibly invasive (what!?!)

Upon returning home, I googled this tree and immediately learned why I couldn't find it in any of my landscape tree research - it is on the Red Alert List for the Invasive Plant Council of California. Great. Why would these trees even be available for homeowners to buy? And why would they have been planted in parks around the city?

Now that I know what I'm dealing with, I'm sure these trees will have to go at some point, but in the meanwhile, is it so bad to enjoy the benefits the trees do provide? First of all, I love the shade and second, in the middle of summer, the bees LOVE the (messy) flowers. For weeks every summer, bees descend on these trees and cover them so completely that the entire yard has one big BUZZ you can hear all over the yard - even in the garage! Seeing as how everyone is worried about the disappearance of the honey bee - I feel like I'm doing my part to keep them alive. If anyone is looking for them, there are thousands hanging out here on Lathwell. Furthermore, the leaves put on a brilliant show of color in the fall and the seed pods are enjoyed by the birds all winter. We do have to deal with the mess of the seed pods in the grass, but I get to enjoy watching the birds out my upstairs bedroom window all winter when the leaves are gone.

I wouldn't want to say so many nice things about these trees that someone would be convinced to plant one - the root system is shallow, the flowers and seed pods are messy and you do find new little trees everywhere that need to be pulled, but at this point, the benefits outweigh the grief. My only worry is what I will replace them with when they do eventually have to go.....