All about Natural Sunscreen
Sunscreen has a very important job to cover on our skin; it is primarily necessary in the months when the sun is much more aggressive, but it is increasingly becoming necessary throughout the entire year. To help us with this, we can not only count on the classic alternatives, but it is also possible to turn to much more natural options, which are designed to meet the needs of a conventional sunscreen but without chemical additives or toxic products.
Currently, there is a growing trend to always prefer natural alternatives over polluting products, in all areas of life, from food to points that were previously so overlooked such as skin care, where there is now a large market with commercial natural options and even alternatives that you can prepare in the comfort of your home.
Among these natural products, both commercial and homemade, we find sunscreens, which for the most part are characterized by including in their list of ingredients alternatives that fulfill the same function as conventional sunscreen but are respectful of both the most sensitive skins and the environment.
So if you are interested in learning a little about the topic and joining the trend, be sure to read on as we will explain everything you need to know to get yourself a perfect natural sunscreen for you and your family.
Do you want to know another alternative to protect your skin from the sun’s rays? You may be interested in the following article Mineral Sunscreen: What it is and its benefits
The importance of using sunscreen
Many people believe that using sunscreen is exclusive to summer months or beach days, when the skin is much more exposed to sunburns, but beyond that a product like this does not offer any extra benefit to the skin or any apparent reason to motivate its application outside of these environments or even in day-to-day life.
This thought, although quite popular, is actually quite far from reality. The truth is that a product like sunscreen is really quite useful, and its use should never be limited to special occasions or days when the sun is more intense, since its function goes much further than simply preventing our skin from suffering the most notorious consequences of sun exposure, burns.
Everyone should start as soon as possible to get used to the idea that a good sunscreen is an important step in a successful skin care routine and its use in general should be applying it all over the body, with daily use and throughout the 365 days of the year, regardless of whether you are in an area with cold winters, in which, due to mere ignorance, this product is often overlooked.
This is because while taking some sun does not generate any kind of damage to the skin, but rather is recommended by doctors to get a natural source of vitamin D, really excessive exposure brings no benefit, on the contrary, it becomes a high-risk factor, as it brings certain negative consequences both in the medium and long term that can even become a risk to our health and life.
This is exclusively due to the radiations emitted by the sun, known as UVA and UVB rays which have been proven to generate the formation of so-called free radicals in the body. These end up accelerating the process of premature aging of our skin, causing signs of aging such as wrinkles, expression lines, spots and making the skin gradually lose its natural appearance.
Added to this, the so-called ultraviolet rays manage to enter the deeper layers of the skin, causing the collagen it possesses to gradually decrease, which compromises the firmness and elasticity of the tissues, making the skin become flaccid and appear worn. In addition, this exposure to the sun causes our skin to lose moisture much faster than normal, making it more difficult to recover hydration and increasing the likelihood of developing wrinkles and marks.
All this can irreparably damage our skin in a short time, but as if that were not enough, there are even greater problems that we may face if we do not properly protect our skin by protecting it from excessive exposure to sunlight. It has been proven that UV rays have a direct impact on our body, being able to even affect and alter the structure of our DNA, increasing the chances of developing skin cancer.
That’s why it has been proven that the daily application of a good sunscreen that keeps our skin safe from prolonged exposure to the radiations it emits should be considered not just a factor for particular occasions, but a fundamental point that can have a great impact both in our daily life, making this an essential product.
If you are considering changing your usual sunscreen, you can learn a little at Biodegradable Sunscreen: what it is and what benefits it presents
Why opt for a natural alternative
As you may have noticed, sunscreen is a product that has great importance both for the appearance of our skin and for the general health of this organ and the rest of our body. This is what has motivated a huge number of commercial brands to create quite efficient and effective products that serve as a protective barrier that keeps these harmful rays away from your skin.
However, while the vast majority of these commercial products, also known as conventional sunscreens, do fulfill their functions quite efficiently and have been designed not to cause any kind of damage to our skin, it must be acknowledged that they can generate other kinds of problems, as they are made from chemical products that can be harmful to the ecosystem or for some people who are somewhat sensitive to the ingredients.
And it is that a point that many do not have very present is that if you expose conventional sunscreen to environments such as sea water, rivers, or any space, it gradually remains in the place as it proceeds to dissolve from your skin without you even noticing it, causing the pollution of the aquatic environment and possibly affecting the lives of other species that require that space to maintain and survive.
To meet this need, cause much less environmental impact, and avoid as far as possible the adverse reactions or hidden side effects that chemicals can cause on our skin, an interesting alternative has arisen, natural sunscreens. These can be found either commercially through various brands that offer this alternative or homemade prepared at home.
Natural sunscreens generally base their principles on the use of ingredients from nature to achieve similar effects to conventional ones but staying away from the negative consequences of these. Giving the consumer the advantage of being able to control and know in depth what ingredients are being applied to the skin and even more importantly, what consequences these will have on both the skin and the environment.
In addition to this, natural alternatives have a significant advantage that can turn out to be the determining factor that makes you switch to them, and that is that the natural ingredients included in these products tend not only not to cause damage to the skin but to help solve certain extra situations that may be affecting it.
For example, you can be taking care of your skin from the damage caused by prolonged exposure to ultraviolet rays from the sun while gradually reducing the appearance of wrinkles, spots, or expression lines that you have on your face, or if you prefer, while you help your body to eliminate acne, treat sunburns already present, or practically any other function you want, something you would never achieve by applying conventional sunscreen.
What you should consider when choosing a natural sunscreen
Natural sunscreen is by far the favorite alternative of more and more people, opening day by day and on its own merit a place in the daily skin care routines of those who care about the environment or simply seek a healthier, preservative-free option to keep their skin healthy and well cared for longer.
But, when you are going to buy sunscreen, whether natural or conventional there are certain points or factors that you should consider, which can help you determine if the product you are acquiring or going to prepare at home will really fulfill the functions that are intended and will not be, on the contrary, a misleading or inefficient product.
The Sun Protection Factor
The first thing you should consider when acquiring or preparing a natural sunscreen is its sun protection factor, also known by the acronym SPF. This refers to the product’s ability to cover the skin from damage caused by prolonged exposure to the sun, and serves as an excellent guide to determine how effective a product is and whether it is suitable for you and your skin.
Generally, the sun protection factor is displayed as a number, which can be found on the back of the packaging of the product you have purchased in the case of a commercial sunscreen, whether it is natural or conventional. This figure is usually in multiples of 5, with the most common being 10, 15, 30, 50, 60, and 100, but other digits can be found in some commercial brands.
This digit, as we have indicated, is a way of determining how effective a product is and refers to the extra time that you can expose your skin to the sun before starting to suffer burns compared to the time it takes in a normal situation. For example, if your skin takes about 15 minutes to start burning when exposed to the sun, and you apply a product with SPF 15, this time will be 15 times greater, totaling 225 minutes or almost four hours.
The maximum SPF
Regarding natural sunscreens, you should bear in mind a very important point, and that is that there is no natural ingredient that has a sun protection factor higher than 50. This means that if you acquire a product that claims to be natural and it promises you protection greater than this figure, you should be aware that to achieve it, it surely has some chemical product among its ingredients.
That it probably contains zinc oxide
You should keep in mind that natural sunscreens all have physical filters instead of the chemical filters offered by conventional sunscreens. This refers to the protective product not being absorbed by the skin but remaining on it creating a layer that keeps the sun’s rays away from the skin.
Among the most used physical filters is zinc oxide, an environmentally friendly substance that has very beneficial properties for the skin. Among these, we find that it helps fight aging and that it works to filter both UVA and UVB rays.
So if you have any kind of allergy or your skin is incompatible with this substance, you should pay close attention to the packaging of the natural sunscreen you have acquired to avoid causing yourself an unwanted adverse reaction. If that’s your case, the most advisable thing is to turn to the alternatives that contain titanium dioxide.
Its level of water resistance
Due to their natural ingredients, most natural sunscreens have a level of water resistance, which means they can fulfill their functions even in situations where the body will be exposed to large amounts of liquid or sweat. But this level can vary greatly between one product and another, making it a point that you should always take into account.
It is advisable to consult the label of the natural sunscreen you have acquired, where it should indicate the maximum time it supports in periods of immersion to determine how often it will be necessary to reapply a layer of it on your skin.
As for homemade sunscreens, these are made from oils, making them somewhat waterproof, but just the same, as they present a somewhat lower efficacy, we recommend not spending more than 3 hours in the water without taking a few minutes to re-cover your skin with this substance, only then will you avoid burns and sun damage.
If you have suffered the ravages of going out in the sun without protecting your skin, the following topic is for you How to treat a sunburn
Natural ingredients that serve as sunscreen
If you plan to make your own sunscreen at home, the first thing you should know is that it is a fairly simple process, as often it is enough with the direct application of some substance that has the quality to create a protective filter. In this regard, what you should mainly consider is how effective each one is in terms of its protection factor.
For the most part, the elements you can use are natural oils with protective properties, being able to find both natural oils and essential oils that fulfill this function and that can be combined to increase the protective qualities of the finished product in case the chosen oil alone is not enough.
Vegetable oils are those that do not present a characteristic odor and are rich in fatty acids, extracted from seeds and oleaginous fruits and should always be applied in their purest version. On the other hand, essential oils do have a strong aroma and are extracted from aromatic plants that give them their name. In both groups, we find good options to take care of the skin, but those we consider you should have as main alternatives are the following:
Natural Oils
- Natural hazelnut oil (SPF 10)
- Natural olive oil (SPF 7)
- Coconut oil (SPF 7)
- Castor oil (SPF 5)
- Almond oil (SPF 4)
- Jojoba oil (SPF 4)
Essential Oils
- Carrot seed essential oil (SPF 40)
- Basil essential oil (SPF 6)
- Mint essential oil (SPF 6)
- Lemongrass essential oil (SPF 6)
- Lavender essential oil (SPF 5)
If you liked our article, we invite you to check out the following topic: What to look for when buying sunscreen, according to dermatologists
Natural sunscreen is in many cases such a practical and efficient alternative that it can even surpass the conventional counterpart, provided that your skin does not have any special need that requires the application of a product with an SPF higher than that offered by natural ingredients. Guided by this, if you have not tried it yet, we invite you to give it a try next time. Your skin and the planet will be grateful.