Hi everyone,

I have been lurking for a long time but this is my first post. I love the FOTDs and may post some of my own soon.

I am trying to source a natural sunblock for my face. My requirements are that it is paraben-free and contains titanium dioxide or zinc as the active ingredient.

I have combination skin with some acne redness, but my main concern is dry flakiness, so a sunblock that absorbs and moisturizes well without looking white would be best for me.

Any help is appreciated! Thanks.

- Sarah

Welcome! I currently use Burt's Bees sunblock, but you can check out your local Whole Foods and see what they have. It's a little bit sticky, but it's fine if I use a bit of moisturizer with it(I use a little bit of olive oil.).
Mineral Makeup is said to have some SPF, IDK though, just due to the small amount we apply(Unless you're using a whole container of foundation in a day? XD).
Badger's Sunblock is supposed to be very effective, unlike a lot of sunblocks(Natural and conventional), but I have yet to try it, much less in the summer when I really need it. Burts Bees is paraben free(I'm sensitive to Parabens, so I notice even the smallest amount.), and I'm pretty sure it's fairly natural, not sure if it is all natural. It doesn't make me look white, but I'm also very fair. On my moles, it doesn't change the color, and it does very little to reduce a little bit of redness I have. I do use the SPF 30, but I believe they have an SPF 15.
I do have very dry skin, so I can't say too much as to if it might be too heavy if you have an acne problem at all.
Here are the ingredients, it uses Titanium Dioxide. This is for the SPF 30, it says it's 100% natural, but the SPF 15 says it's 99.1% natural? I'll be honest, the ingredients aren't 100% natural looking to me, but if it's mostly natural(And harmless!), that's important.
Active ingredient: titanium dioxide (8.58%)
Inactive Ingredients: water, cannabis sativa (hemp) seed oil, glycerin, stearic acid, fragrance, helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed oil, hydrated silica, sucrose distearate, calendula officinalis (calendula) flower extract, crataegus oxyacanthus (hawthorn) stem extract, hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel) extract, hydrastis canadensis (golden seal) extract, symphtum officinale (comfrey) extract, rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) leaf extract, alginic acid, acacia senegal gum, xanthan gum, beta carotene, sucrose stearate, lecithin, aluminium hydroxide, sodium borate, glucose, sodium chloride, canola oil, glucose oxidase, lactoperoxidase
Hope this helps.

I do not use an all natural sunscreen but mine does have titanium in it so I can tell you a couple of things about titanium dioxide: 1) it helps with redness and acne (for me, anyways) and 2) even on my fair skin (1Y, in winter mix in some ghost) it does turn me white, just takes a bit of elbow grease to get it blended in

and welcome to the forum!

Welcome Sarah! Check out Mychelle Sun Shield too, it can also be found at Wholefoods.

Thanks everyone for the responses.

I became concerned about sunscreen ingredients after reading an article on The Green Guide web site - apparently there is evidence that some sunscreen active ingredients can damage DNA or disrupt hormones.

One culprit is Padimate-O, which is used in many natural sunscreens.

(I also stopped having Stevia, the natural sugar substitute, because I read it can damage DNA too).

I take these types of claims with a few grains of salt, but the evidence seems to have a sound scientific basis b/c the article quotes scientists who are studying these substances.

Zinc and titanium dioxide appear to be quite safe, although micronized forms MAY be a concern and there are environmental concerns about them too.

I've recently started using Jason Sunbrellas Facial Block, after ditching my old sunscreen that contained PABA, a precursor of Padimate-O.

At first I didn't like the Jason product becuase it went on a little white and seemed to make the drier parts of my skin more noticeable.

The next day, I applied a bit of moisturizer first on the dry areas (I'm trying the Yes to Carrots day cream and I like it) and then the Jason over that. This works quite well. I also use another zinc sunblock around my eyes becuase the Jason does sting a bit if it goes in, which it always seems to since I apply to every bit of skin!

Jason is a non-micronized sunblock too. The Facial Block is a moisturizing formula and for many skin types it would probably be fine on its own.

For anyone who's interested, here are some related links ...

* Here's a "sunblock card" you can print out and carry with you when buying sunscreen:

http://www.thegreenguide.com/gg/pdf/Sunblock.pdf

* Here's the original article i read:

http://www.thegreenguide.com/doc/103/sunscreens

* ... and another article similar to the one above:

http://thegreenguide.com/reports/product.mhtml?id=27

* They also have a "dirty dozen" ingredients to avoid in personal care products:

http://www.thegreenguide.com/doc/100/10uglies

Oh cool, glad you've found one that works. One other that is non micronized for sure is Aubergy Organics's ones. They are a bit white and greasy on my face, but many sunscreens are. One thing to remember about the studies is how much of the product is used. For instance, Propylene Glycol is used in high amounts in deodorants, and can cause itching from it. But, Borax, which is toxic when ingested in large amounts(about the same as table salt) is perfectly harmless when applied to the skin or ingested in small amounts. Absorbency is important as well. If it just sits on top of your skin, and damages the top layer, that's not great, but it's certainly less harmful than a product that can penetrate skin. That being said, I do use all natural products where ever possible.(Nailpolish is my one major exception.)
It's alot easier to know the risks of using coconut oil than some chemical sounding name. Now, a harmless chemical is fine(Borax), but if I can't tell if it's harmless or not, I try to err on the side of caution. Thanks for the lists!

Hey Sarah...

I know this topic is a bit old, but I was wondering where you had read that stevia was damaging to DNA. I've read a bunch on it myself and have seen the exact opposite (that it protects against DNA damage due to its antioxidant activity), but I'm always double checking the products I put in my body. I'd be interested in reading what you found.

Thanks!

If you check the Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database you'll see that Trukid Sunny Days Facestick tops the list and there are some other excellent, safe ones listed too like Badger Sunscreen. They list all the ingredients and the safety of each ingredient-- with ZERO being the safest.

http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.c....php?query=sunscreen

quote:

Originally posted by salome:
Hey Sarah...

I know this topic is a bit old, but I was wondering where you had read that stevia was damaging to DNA. I've read a bunch on it myself and have seen the exact opposite (that it protects against DNA damage due to its antioxidant activity), but I'm always double checking the products I put in my body. I'd be interested in reading what you found.

Thanks!

http://br-plus.com/herbalabstr...ioside,_is_mutagenic.

This site has much condensed info, I think they are trying to say that it depends on what kind of extract, derivative or modification you do to the stevia (stevia components are listed at the top of the collection of mini-articles). The last mini-article is one that found DNA damage when a certain derivative plus a pre-treatment with something else had a result. Other articles find DNA protection as you mentioned.