Summer is here and it is BLAZING. Well, not so much blazing in Los Angeles (it’s 71 degrees). The sun in southern California, however, is always a vicious beast and pretty much at its strongest right now. Constantly, every day, it beats up my skin with its rays and makes me fear that my skin is aging more quickly than if I were still under the protection of Michigan’s cloudy days. On the upside, I’m slowly growing my sunhat collection!
Recently, I needed to buy some sunscreen on my way out of town, and I cursed my new android phone and its lack of the EWG sunscreen guide app. If I had planned ahead, I could have always done my research on EWG’s 2012 Sunscreen Guide. Long story short: I didn’t plan ahead.
My main concern is that I get an actual broad spectrum sunscreen vs something only LOOKS like it has broad spectrum protection because of misleading labels. Also, I’m not super into chemical ingredients that are hormone disrupters nor the possibility that as a sunscreen breaks down it might release free radicals and actually INCREASE my chances of cancer! Personally, I err on the side of mineral sunscreens. My quick tip is to look for titanium dioxide.
You can read more about sunscreen’s complexities here. Also, NPR had an interesting story this week on Science Friday about how sunscreen works. If you really want to nerd out, you can read about the FDA’s new sunscreen labeling requirements. They were supposed to be enacted before this summer season, but were pushed back 6 months. This is something else I learned from NPR.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
First of all, I want both of those bathing suits in that photo.
Second, so which sunscreen would you recommend? Or which one did you end up getting?
I actually picked that particular photo with you in mind!
I love it.
As for recommendations…I don’t have a clear one. When I was at the store, I ended up buying some Aveeno Active Naturals Face with 30 SPF because they don’t carry any mineral based sunscreens at Rite Aid. I guess that Aveeno actually makes some mineral based sunscreens, so maybe they will be at mainstream stores the next time I’m in the market. I just looked up the one I bought on the EWG data base. The biggest bummer is that it only has moderate UVA protection. I learned on the NPR story that an easy way to know which UV does what is: UVA = Aging, UVB =Burn.Those UVA rays are the ones I am more concerned with. They make it down to the collagen layer of your skin, which is what makes us age. :-/
In the past, I really liked Badger Balm Sunscreen. I hesitate to recommend it only because they no longer have the kind I used in the past. HOWEVER, when I bought it, it got a great score on EWG, and it’s a good company, so chances are the newer formulations are good. When I used it, I always made sure I had pressed powder with me because after application my face was SHINE-Y. I loved the smell of it, though. And it made my skin feel hydrated.