Back in 2012 I published a short post on DIY sunscreen, the gist of which was “don’t make it, you can’t know if it works.” That post continues to get a lot of traffic and quite a few comments, many of which aim to convince me that DIY sunscreen is (or can be) a good idea. So, with warmer days on the horizon (in the Northern Hemisphere, at least), I wanted to write a more detailed post on the topic. Today I’m tackling the arguments I hear from internet people who want to make their own sunscreen.
Before we dive in, I want to chat about what sunscreen is. It’s a substance (a spray, gel, or cream, usually) applied to protect the skin from UVA and UVB rays. The protection comes from reflecting, absorbing, and/or scattering the rays so they don’t reach our skin cells. Different active ingredients work in different ways, but in the end, any professionally developed, tried and tested sunscreen will do the same thing—protect your skin cells from harmful radiation.
Sunscreens come in a variety of strengths, labelled as “SPF”: Sun Protection Factor. SPF “is a measure of a sunscreen’s ability to prevent UVB from damaging the skin. Here’s how it works: If it takes 20 minutes for your unprotected skin to start turning red, using an SPF 15 sunscreen theoretically prevents reddening 15 times longer — about five hours. Another way to look at it is in terms of percentages: SPF 15 filters out approximately 93 percent of all incoming UVB rays. SPF 30 keeps out 97 percent and SPF 50 keeps out 98 percent.” [source]
There’s no shortage of online recipes telling you that if you mash together raspberry seed oil or coconut oil with some zinc oxide you will have magically made yourself a brilliant, all-natural, totally effective SPF 1000 sunscreen. Those people are wrong. Let’s break that down:
Post Overview
Argument #1: Wearing sunscreen makes you more likely to develop cancer
The argument
Back in 2000, a Swedish study on sunscreen use was released. They’d tracked 1484 people from 1995 to 1997 to monitor the occurrence of melanoma between people who wore sunscreen often, and people who didn’t. The findings were surprising; the group who wore sunscreen was more likely to develop malignant melanoma. This finding has led untold numbers of people to believe that wearing sunscreen causes cancer.
The reality
There are two extremely important details of that study that are rarely reported on: the first is that the median SPF used was 6. SIX! That is so woefully weak it’s laughable. That level of SPF is about what you’ll find on a tanning oil with an SPF; it is not meaningful sun protection. If that sunscreen was a helmet, it would be a knit toque.
The second detail is that the people who wore sunscreen reported spending much more time out in the sun, while those who weren’t wearing sunscreen avoided sun exposure. “The [odds of developing malignant melanoma were] higher in subjects who reported that sunscreen use enabled them to spend more time sunbathing.” The actual finding of the study was that wearing sunscreen (especially sunscreen with a low SPF) emboldened participants to spend time out in the sun that far exceeded the protective abilities of the sunscreen they were wearing. This very obviously has nothing to do with the sunscreen, and everything to do with it being used improperly. While this doesn’t necessarily mean that wearing sunscreen prevents cancer, it definitely means it doesn’t cause it!
The solution
Wear sunscreen responsibly. Don’t put it on in the morning and then spend all day in the sun and expect it to protect you like some sort of supernatural shield. Sunscreen needs to be reapplied regularly (typical recommendations are every two hours), especially if you are sweating or swimming. It isn’t invincible, and wearing it does not make you invincible, either. This is part of the reason why you can’t purchase SPF 120 sunscreens in Australia; they make the user over-confident (the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration allows a maximum claim of SPF 50+).
Argument #2: Sunscreen contains carcinogens
The argument
One of the big draws of DIY skin care is avoiding harmful and potentially harmful ingredients found in many store bought products. Oxybenzone (a chemical UVA/UVB filter) and Retinyl palmitate (a form of vitamin A) are the two most targeted by the Environmental Working Group as being insidious.
The reality
Analysis of the study that is often referenced to prove the dangers oxybenzone (in which rats were fed oxybenzone—and we are not rats, and we aren’t eating oxybenzone) indicates “both the application regimens and time periods required to obtain systemic levels of oxybenzone equivalent per unit of body mass are essentially unattainable” (It was about 35 years of applying SPF 30 to every inch of your body every single day). The analysis also notes “in a human study, oxybenzone did not demonstrate significant endocrine disruption, even with application of a formulation containing 10% oxybenzone. In fact, after 40 years of use, we are not aware of any published study that demonstrates acute toxic effects in humans with systemic absorption of oxybenzone.”
As for retinyl palmitate, Safety of retinyl palmitate in sunscreens: A critical analysis (Steven Q. Wang, MD; Stephen W. Dusza, DrPH; Henry W. Lim, MD) concluded “there is no evidence that the inclusion of retinyl palmitate in sunscreen is photocarcinogenic in human beings,” and “retinyl palmitate in sunscreens has the same pharmacologic, biologic, and toxicologic profiles and endogenous retinyl palmitate in human skin.”
The solution
The evidence that oxybenzone and/or retinyl palmitate is harmful appears to be, at best, dubious. However, even if you aren’t convinced of the safety of oxybenzone, retinyl palmitate, or any other sunscreen ingredient, there are plenty of sunscreens available that don’t contain oxybenzone or retinyl palmitate. If you want to avoid an ingredient, there is a product on the market that caters to you. Purchase that product.
Argument #3: Sunscreen harms the environment
The argument
The ingredients in our sunscreens kill coral reefs and harm wildlife.
The reality
Some studies are showing that high concentrations of UVA/UVB filters in oceans and lakes can harm fish and coral, though at concentrations much higher than what is currently found in oceans and lakes. That’s not to say that those oceans and lakes may not reach those concentrations someday, though.
Realistically speaking, everything we do impacts our environment in some way. If you’re boycotting sunscreen to save the coral reefs, I hope you are also a raw food vegan who walks or cycles everywhere and never purchases products made more than 20 miles from your front door. We all impact our environment; try your best to make good and informed decisions, but singling out sunscreen as if it is single handedly destroying our planet is a bit ridiculous. You would likely do the earth much more good by giving up animal products, and at least there’s good data suggesting that particular change would lessen your chances of developing cancer rather than increasing them.
The solution
If you want to avoid an ingredient, there is a tested and vetted sunscreen product on the market that caters to you. Purchase that product. However, realize that everything impacts our environment, and sunscreen is not single handedly destroying our planet.
Argument #4: Sunscreen is expensive
The argument
Sunscreen is expensive. The ingredients that go into a mineral based sunscreen are inexpensive, therefore it would be cheaper to make my own.
The reality
You’re right—sunscreen is fairly expensive. When I lived in Australia I quickly realized sunscreen was going to need its own budget line as I had to apply the stuff more liberally and more frequently than I ever had to in Canada. However, it’s expensive for a reason. Sunscreen is a drug, and has to undergo extensive development and testing by real scientists in real laboratories to ensure its efficacy. Because sunscreen technology continues to develop, the price reflects the continued expense of research and development (unlike something like ibuprofen or acetaminophen/paracetamol).
As for the “it would be cheaper to make my own” part; it’s not. If you are doing it properly and having it tested for efficacy, you are looking at hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars in testing, not to mention thousands of dollars for specialized equipment.
The ingredients may be cheap, but the rest of it definitely isn’t. Professional Cosmetic Chemist Amanda Foxon-Hill of Realize Beauty has chronicled her experiences attempting to develop her own sunscreen formula on her blog. The basic sunscreen testing she was hiring out was “$700 ish a pop”, and for me that’s got to be close to a decade of sunscreen spending! If you read her posts (linked below) it’s not hard to see how you could spend a couple lifetime’s worth of sunscreen budget on sunscreen testing and still never produce a useable end product. Amanda is a professional and has worked on sunscreen for years and still clearly finds it to be a formidable challenge.
- Realize Beauty: The trouble with making your own sunscreen
- Realize Beauty: When making sunscreens particle size matters
Solution
Watch for sales (I buy mine at the end of the previous season), but this is not something you should try to reduce expenses on by making it yourself. As Amanda says “you can make sunscreen at home in as much as you don’t necessarily need any special equipment BUT you do need to get it properly tested to make sure you aren’t putting your family at risk wearing a sunscreen that is ineffective.” And that is not going to result in any sort of cost savings!
Argument #5: Sunscreen is overrated and unnecessary
The argument
Humans need vitamin D, and we wear so much sunscreen that we are in the midst of a vitamin D deficiency epidemic. The sun is good for you in small doses.
The reality
Recommendations vary on how much sun exposure is required to create the vitamin D our bodies need—mostly because that amount varies with your skin tone and the strength of the sun wherever you happen to be, but I’ve yet to find a recommendation higher than twenty minutes. Our bodies do not store excess vitamin D, so once you’ve had enough sun exposure to create that vitamin D, more is just unnecessary sun exposure. Depending on where you live in the world, for large parts of the year there isn’t enough UVB radiation for you to produce vitamin D, so if you are concerned about your vitamin D levels, you should be supplementing.
The solution
This is hugely dependent on where you live, your skin tone, and the season, but no dermatologist will tell you that sunscreen is completely unnecessary.
Argument #6: Sunscreen doesn’t actually prevent cancer
The argument
We can’t prove that sunscreen prevents skin cancer.
The reality
Yes, we can—at least when it comes to skin cancers caused by UVA and UVB exposure. We know that the vast majority of skin cancer is caused by damage to the DNA of skin cells, which is caused by exposure to UVA and UVB radiation. We know (thanks to expensive laboratory testing) that sunscreen reduces our exposure to UVA and UVB rays.
If you prefer more anecdotal evidence, take a look at Australia. Australia is famous for its sunny beaches, and that hole in the ozone layer than means the Australian sun is effectively supercharged. According to Cancer Council Australia:
- Australia has one of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world… the majority of skin cancers in Australia are caused by exposure to UV radiation in sunlight.
- Sunburn causes 95% of melanomas, the most deadly form of skin cancer.
- Approximately two in three Australians will be diagnosed with skin cancer by the time they are 70
- The incidence of skin cancer [in Australia] is one of the highest in the world, two to three times the rates in Canada, the US and the UK
More sun, more skin cancer. Growing up in Canada, most of the cancer prevention advertising I was exposed to was targeted at smoking; when I moved to Australia, it was all about sun exposure.
The solution
UV rays cause skin cancer, and good sunscreens prevent/reduce exposure to those rays.
Argument #7: But my recipe works!
The argument
I made a sunscreen and I wear it all the time on myself/my family and it works!
The reality
Have you had it professionally tested? If you haven’t, you don’t know if it works. UVB rays are what causes burns, so while you may be able to say with some certainty that you aren’t burning, you have no idea if you are protecting against UVA rays, and those are the rays that cause invisible (and insidious) damage.
Sunscreen is way harder to make than laypeople think. And I get it—I do. You look at an ingredient list on a mineral sunscreen and everything looks familiar. You’ve got zinc oxide and titanium dioxide! You’ve made diaper cream before, how different can sunscreen be? It’s the same ingredients, so that means it’s the same—right?
The ingredients may be cheap, but the rest of it definitely isn’t. Professional Cosmetic Chemist Amanda Foxon-Hill of Realize Beauty has chronicled her experiences attempting to develop her own sunscreen formula on her blog. If you read her posts (linked below) it’s not hard to see how you could spend a couple lifetime’s worth of sunscreen budget on sunscreen testing and still never produce a useable end product you’ll see that even professionals find it very difficult to create a product that works reliably.
- Realize Beauty: The trouble with making your own sunscreen
- Realize Beauty: When making sunscreens particle size matters
The solution
Unless you have had your formula professionally tested, you have no idea if it works, and the fact that it seems to work on you is functionally useless.
Making your own sunscreen is like assuming mouldy bread is the same thing as penicillin because they’re both mold (“Saprophytic species of Penicillium and Aspergillus are among the best-known representatives of the Eurotiales and live mainly on organic biodegradable substances. Commonly known in America as molds, they are among the main causes of food spoilage, especially species of subgenus Penicillium.” [source]), and then trying to treat your pneumonia with some fuzzy leftovers you dug out of the back of your fridge. We derive penicillin from Penicillium, so why don’t we all skip the pharmaceutical companies and eat moldy food when we feel sick? Because we know it’s not the same. Ditto for DIY sunscreen. It is so much more than the sum of its parts.
In conclusion
Sunscreen is not the be all and end all of sun protection, and I’m not trying to suggest that it is. Make use of hats, clothes, shade, and sunglasses. Stay out of the sun during the hottest part of the day. Don’t intentionally tan. Yes, some sun exposure is good, but it really doesn’t take much to produce the amounts of vitamin D our bodies require.
Sunscreen shouldn’t be your entire sun protection plan, but it should be part of it. There is no reason for it not to be, and so many reasons to use it. Whether you want to look young for decades (Nicole Kidman famously won’t cross the street without putting on a hat and her skin still looks 18) or don’t want to develop skin cancer, sunscreen will help. And, even if you still don’t want to wear sunscreen, don’t make your own. It’s better for you to know you aren’t wearing sunscreen and act accordingly (like the people in the Swedish study) rather than be overly confident wearing your ineffective DIY stuff.
Like many things, sunscreen is so much more than the sum of its parts. Making sunscreen is a complex, highly variable process that is best left to the experts. Thankfully, there are dozens (if not hundreds) of different professionally made and vetted sunscreens on the market, so no matter what ingredients you may be trying to avoid, or whatever price you’re trying to pay, there’s a sunscreen for you!
Further Reading & Viewing
- How the sun sees you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9BqrSAHbTc
- This Is How Much Sunscreen You Really Need – And Its Huge!!!! (also, why you shouldn’t count on the SPF in your foundation)
- Formula Botanica: Why you should not use Coconut Oil (or any other oil) as a Sunscreen
- The Beauty Brains: Can I mix my own sunscreen?
- Realize Beauty: An Honest Mistake. When Zinc Based Sunscreens Go Wrong.
- Realize Beauty: This isn’t the first time a natural sunscreen I’ve purchased has split 🙁 (Store bought natural sunscreens don’t always work!)
- Huffington Post: Homemade Sunscreen: Does This DIY Skin Care Product Work?
- American Society for Dermatologic Surgery: 10 Skin Cancer Myths Debunked
- IFL Science: No, Sunscreen Will Not Give You Cancer
I always thoroughly enjoy your balanced and meticulously-researched pieces like this. You’re a responsible and entertaining voice in the DIY skincare community. The fact that you used the word toque made my Canadian heart proud too Thanks for everything you do!!
Thanks so much, Bridge! Let’s get “toque” out into the wider lexicon so non-Canucks stop looking at me weird when I try to explain it lol. I told a Brit in the UK that it looked like he needed a toque and that turned into a much longer conversation than I’d intended LOL!
Hi Marie. What a well put informative article. The video link of “how the sun sees you” is definitely an eye opener. Living in South Africa we have about the same incidence of skin cancer here as in Australia, but in no way have I ever thought of making it myself!
Thanks, Larga! I didn’t know SA was in the same skin cancer boat as Aus, but I suppose that makes sense. I’d guess there’s some sort of correlation between the strength of the sun and the number of people in that part of the world who try to DIY sunscreen…
Great article!! Thank you for sharing this important information.
Thanks for reading! 🙂
So Marie,
With all the research you have done can you suggest an effective commercial product which doesn’t use parabens or other nasty stuff. The issue is that on-line search/research doesn’t narrow the list of products which work well, but are still healthy for your skin and body.
Best,
Jess (the beekeeper)
Hi Jess,
take a look at this company. Maybe you will see something you like. It is the only sunscreen I will buy.
https://www.badgerbalm.com/c-24-natural-sunscreen.aspx
Hope this helps.
Claudia
Thank you Claudia for the tip. After reviewing the ingredients it leaves me confused…as this seems to be something I could make with the right recipe, which seems to fly in the face of Marie’s article.
Maybe this product has been tested, where most of ours, as Marie points out, are not…so one can be sure it will work.
May I ask which version you have used with success?
Thanks,
Jess
Hi Jess,
I have used the anti bug sunscreen and the kid’s sunscreen for my granddaughter. I will have to say that it goes on white so if you get this kind of sunscreen start with small amounts and rub in well – or you could look like a ghost ;). They use the non nano zinc oxide.
I’ve been buying Badger Balm sunscreen before I realized they were practically in my “backyard” (about an hour from my house).
Badger Balm seems like a really cool company that cares about the environment as well as the people that live in said environment. They hold various workshops during the nicer weather, composting, mushroom gathering, fermenting, cheese making, SOAP making etc.
I am not affiliated with them at all, I just think they are one of the good ones.
Thanks,
Claudia
I’ve contacted them about doing an interview—hopefully they say yes!
Not just the right recipe, but the right technique, equipment, method, and testing 🙂 See Jane’s points!
Honestly, for me, the best sunscreen is one I’ll wear. I am not a militant mineral sunscreen wearer by any stretch of the imagination. This (ish—mine is SPF 60, but I couldn’t find that on Amazon) is what I wear on my face April–October (or whenever it gets proper cold here). I like it; it works, it doesn’t break me out, and it wears well.
I have heard excellent things about the products from Badger Balm as well 🙂
Excellent post Marie. I tried making it a few years ago and it was one of those things that ended up in the garbage before it was bottled. I figured if I took a lotion recipe and added 15 to 30% zinc oxide it would do the job. Nope, just a horrible pasty white glob.
Thanks, Lynne! When I first got started I thought it was that easy, too. Fortunately I read some convincing advice against it before trying it, but it’s not hard to see how many people decide to try it.
Thanks for doing this topic! You are super thoughtful and well researched. I recently bought a Brush on Block mineral sunscreen stick (~23 USD, 3.4g) with the following ingredients: Active Ingredients: Titanium Dioxide (15%) and Zinc Oxide (12%) Inactive Ingredients: Alumina, Boron Nitride, Chamomile Flower Extract, Green Tea Extract, Honeysuckle Flower Extract, Iron Oxides, Mica, Rice Lipids, Rice Starch, Safflower Oil, Silica, Stearic Acid, Triethoxycaprylsilane. Many of the usual suspects. My first thought was: when this runs out, I could make something like this tons cheaper to refill it. I’m hesitant to mention this now because, given your post, you probably don’t like this idea ;). But I do wonder how you think this issue plays out for a mineral based product. (Also-I’m not totally sure I’m sold on the idea of a powder based mineral sunscreen. Do I really want to be inhaling all this?? I’m so not sure yet, but was curious.) I’m not a coconut oil cures everything kind of girl, but my health and the environment are really important to me. So, thanks for all your research, looking forward to reading your suggested articles! Very timely.
Honestly, that product sounds like mineral makeup, and I’m not convinced it works. Is there a “drug facts” panel on the package? It’s just missing SO many of the dispersing and SPF boosting ingredients used in true sunscreens, and those ingredients make it look exactly like mineral foundation :/ Call me a skeptic but… yeah. I am 😛 As for inhalation; the oils and lipids in there should weigh that down enough that you aren’t inhaling a ton of it. The inhalation risks associated with Titanium Dioxide were found in situations with 24/7 exposure to a cloud of airborne TD, which is obviously FAR more than you’d ever get with getting a job at a TD factory!
This one (https://www.drugs.com/otc/432818/BOB_Box_090914%20(2).jpg) actually does have a drugs facts label. So it is being marked as a drug, not a makeup. I’m not sure if this means the US FDA has looked at it or not. Thanks for that and your article! Made me think about this a lot. I think I might end up using this as a secondary sunscreen. I know that I don’t wash my face and reapply sunscreen every 2 hours ;(, so hope this will help extend protection through out the day. It looks like it will be better than nothing and it is really easy to use.
That’s good! I don’t know much about the testing or vetting regulatory process in the USA, but if they have gone to the trouble of a drug label, they are presumably on the up-and-up. That said, if it goes on like foundation, it would be like re-applying foundation every couple hours, which is definitely not a thing I can be arsed with! 😛 Thanks for reading, I’m happy to make you think 😉
Love your blog and thanks for the in-depth post! I tried raspberry seed oil for one day last year and realized it was a mistake. What are some brands of sunscreen you like to use?
I typically use this on my face as it goes on beautifully, is non-greasy, and doesn’t break me out. I’m also planning on trying some Badger Balm sunscreen this year on the recommendation of many readers 🙂
Fantastic! Thanks!
Hi Marie,
Have you tried badger balm sunscreen and can you give us an update on how the product is ?
Thank you so much!! I’m ambitious and of course, early in my diy days I tried to de exactly this (“I’m a chemist, I should be able to make this” haha NOPE). You’re level of research is impressive and admirable, and your explanatory blog posts are always a joy to read! Just wish I had people where I live to talk about this stuff with rather than posting on your blog and commenting in a chat room
How interesting to hear from somebody who is an actual chemist, and still decided it’s a big ol’ NOPE! Thanks for chiming in 🙂 And yes, perhaps we should have a Humblebee conference where we can all dork around together and squee about carrier oils 😀
I run an outdoor farmer’s market throughout the summer. A couple years ago I had a vendor show up with homemade sunscreen consisting of coconut oil and raspberry seed oil. If THAT’S not a recipe for frying yourself…. I’m SO glad you and Jane are around to point out the very real risks of diy-ing something so important.
OH good heavens, that just sounds like tanning oil to me :/ Eep!
Excellent article! I would never attempt to make my own sunscreen. One of my suppliers does offer a liquid chemical SPF product though and I am tempted to use some in a summer face cream (I live in Scotland, so that would be for May to Sep) just to get some additional protection in everyday situations like popping out to the shops, just like some companies offer moisturiser with spf which are not meant to be a sunscreen. If I went out for a walk or sat in the garden, I would still use a commercial, dedicated sunscreen product. Any thoughts?
If you read Robin’s comment it sounds like she is already doing something similar. If it’s a situation where you typically wouldn’t wear SPF I can’t see any logical reason not to, because you very well still may not be. Personally, I wouldn’t wear that in the summer and think of it as anything other than a lotion; I still wear SPF 60 on my face May–September, and I hardly live in a sunny, warm oasis 😛
I’ve never tried to make my own, but I have seen others blog about it. I see it like this, there is something natural out there for everything. If a person has seen it working for them then that’s great. Even with sunscreen you can still get skin cancer, have adverse health effects from using it or get sunburn…but that doesn’t happen to everybody using it. Humans have to make their own decision on using it or not using it. I buy mine and from what I have seen of the DIY ones it is not really more expensive to buy it from a store.
You can still get a concussion while wearing a helmet, or die in a car crash while wearing a seat belt… I wouldn’t really say those are good reasons to avoid either, though :/
I wondered about your post on “Why not to make your own sunscreen” that was listed earlier in your blog. I thought it was strange because why do you want to make your own soap? Your own makeup? Your own haircare? Because we think of it as a fun hobby!
I never thought people would try to make and use their own SERIOUS sunscreen. I make my own balm that I kinda consider a “sun deterrent”… and I wear it on a normal work day when I’m out in the sun for less than five minutes at a time. (Walk to car, walk from car to work, walk from work back to car, take garbage out to curb, etc…. )
It’s the kind of handmade product that I would NEVER consider wearing as protective sunscreen for a day at the beach, or a Saturday Farmer’s Market… or even working out in the yard for more than just a few minutes. But I like wearing/making my own for all the same reasons that I like DIY’ing my other things.
Maybe I should be putting on a better, quality sunscreen everyday… but I really think taking the middle road here is the best way. For me anyway. I don’t work outside, and I take skin cancer seriously… I’ll buy the best, most natural product I can afford, (and RE-APPLY often!) for when I’m going to be outside for any length of time. But I enjoy making my own too much to give it up entirely!
I guess if you’re thinking about it that way, it’s a bit like not wearing a helmet when you go for a walk. It’s a situation where you typically wouldn’t use or require SPF, so if it helps, cool. If not, it’s not making anything worse, right? Thanks for reading and chiming in!
Yes! I have been making sunscreen for years and I stopped after reading a pile of research. It’s not worth the risk! I actually just posted a more general blog post about why I stopped making my own sunscreen today (it’s on oliviacanela.com if you ever would like to read it). Hope the message is spread far and wide!
Thanks, Paula! I did read your post—well said 🙂
I totally agree. I am often asked why I don’t offer a natural sunscreen in with all the HoneyBliss skin and body care. I explain it, by saying other companies do a great job of it and it’s complex and not something you can whip together at home. Thanks for a great article. ~ Margie
Thanks, Margie! 🙂
Oh wow, this hit a hot spot for me. I’ve been formulating apothecary products for years. I don’t make sunscreens and have been asked to make it many times over the years. What really upsets me is all the other bath and body vendors making it at markets I sell it and claiming it has a specific SPF. Then when customers ask me for some I tell them why I don’t sell it and how it has to be tested and how with Health Canada you have to have a drug number. They give me a blank look and buy it from another vendor. What frustrates me is I’m abiding by the rules and no one else is. I could report other vendors but I choose not too It’s hard to make an argument when so many others are breaking the rules and profiting off of selling sunscreen that has not been tested. Hopefully your article will help spread the word.
Agggh, I definitely feel your frustration! I’m wondering why you choose not to report them, though. They are selling a product that is putting people in harm’s way. Why wouldn’t you report that?
I don’t know why, but I get these little types of water blisters building on my skin whenever/where ever I wear sunscreen. When I was younger, I would break out in some crazy sort of rash so from an early age I gave up on sunscreen. There was this one product I thought would be super helpful from the Ocean Potion Line, but then as soon as I began to sweat I felt like I was on fire.
Sunscreen, the bane of my existence! I gave up a few years ago trying to find something I could wear.
Fantastic and well supported post!
How odd! And awful! Do you have any suspicions as to any particular ingredients might be the cause of the problem?
I have no clue, and the weirdest part? I can wear tanning oil up to SPF4 but anything more than this is where I begin to get some issues going on. I’ve got a pretty dark skin tone for a white chick, and take care when I am spending a lot of time outside. So I’ve never been too worried as I cannot really recall ever burning more than once or twice in my life.
I guess with all the knowledge I’ve picked up over the years on cosmetic making I should at some point investigate it.
I actually have a question for you. I was in the shop and saw that many of the face powders and liquid foundations say they have an SPF of 15. Then I looked on the Bare Mineral website ingredients, and they claim to be SPF15 too. And their ingredient list is very similar to your ingredient list (minus bismuth oxychloride). So with this in mind, if I wear the foundation powder or liquid foundation in the summer (from the book), do I need to worry about splotchy face? as in some parts of my face being tanned and others not so much tanned? I know one would/should probably wear sunscreen underneath, but what about someone who cannot?
Odd indeed! From what I’ve seen the uneven dispersion of the UV blocking is the sort of thing you see with a microscope, so I don’t think you’d have to worry about any visual inconsistencies, though obviously UV rays will still be reaching your skin.
Great article Marie, very informative. I do hope it gives people food for thought, especially those putting their childrens health and lives at risk by using diy sunscreen.
Thanks, Pauline!
Excellent article– the main point persistent DIYers seem to miss is that *even with a recipe and perfect ingredients* SPF absolutely depends on the type of emulsion you’re able to achieve with your equipment, and thus it still requires testing to know whether what you’ve made is garbage or not.
Minor point: vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin, which means if there’s too much of it around, your body can’t pee it out and has to store it in adipose cells. This is not an issue for self-made D since your skin just stops making it when you have enough, but people who overdo it on supplements can run into problems. The rate limiter in the body is on manufacture, not on storage.
Yes! The process is a HUGE part of the success of a sunscreen; the ingredients are just a small part of it.
Interesting fact on the vitamin D, thanks!
Thank you for posting intelligent , fact filled, information. I hope it has encouraged people to stop and think for a minute, do some real research, and make their own decisions and come to conclusions for themselves.
Thanks for reading!
Good grief, I would never pass on to my family a diy sunscreen.
In his years, my husband has worked outdoors. Lots of sunburns and now he goes to the skin doc twice a year to have pre and early cancers burned off. Hes never sent home without a few burned off cells somewhere on his body. One bad spot was surgically removed deep through his arm muscle.
This is too serious for me to be playing around with.
Well said and heartily agreed.
I KNEW IT!!!!! I am… mostly? comfortable with homemade sunscreen but I always knew that getting the zinc evenly dispersed was extremely important, and also a potential downfall if it wasn’t dispersed well enough. you have completely confirmed that. Now I even know it’s called agglomeration! SCIENCE!
Please make sure you’re properly testing to ensure you are getting proper zinc distribution if this is something you are determined to do! Just knowing it must be mixed well doesn’t really do much :/
I really appreciate your honestly and research on this! One of the reasons I love your blog is that you emphasize effective products and are honest when that can’t be achieved in our kitchen 🙂
Thanks, Annette! The temptation to DIY all the things can be really strong, especially if one doesn’t know a lot about why certain things are harder to do than others 🙂 DIYing is great, but let’s keep it safe and effective!
To suggest that you shouldn’t make one positive change because of other bad things we might be doing is absolutely ridiculous. No one will ever “cause no harm” that is life. But can we cause less harm? Yes. So why not?
I never knew making your own sunscreen was a thing till I stumbled upon it but after reading the article it brought up a question that my friend and I discussed recently. We were at a shop that had super cheap imported goods, I’m in New Zealand and sunscreen seems crazy expensive at around $15 a small bottle around 100mls for SPF30, so there was a bottle for like $3 my friend says she wouldn’t trust it but I’m thinking there had to be regulations they couldn’t sell it here if it wasn’t effective. I guess what I’m asking is should I trust that if it’s rated then legally it couldn’t have been imported if it wasn’t correct and is there any difference in trusting an expensive versus a cheap brand in light of all the testing required, also should we be dubious about items from specific regions that are said to produce counterfeit goods… Sorry don’t want to name countries but we’ve all heard of somewhere. Thanks very much and great article.
I don’t know much about counterfeit sunscreen, but I do know that even non-counterfeit sunscreen does not always live up to the promises made on the label. In light of that, I would be a bit of a brand snob. When I was in NZ I got a ~450g bottle of Banana Boat for ~$20 at the grocery store, and that lasted me about two weeks. It’s WAY better than the Banana Boat available in Canada. I also like Biore and Shiseido sunscreens that I import from Japan via Amazon 🙂
Obviously, making sunscreen is a bad idea – but I’d like to add some UV blocking to a leave-in conditioner. Any ideas on how to go about that / how much titanium dioxide & zinc can be used before they start getting visible when thinned out?
I’m afraid I haven’t experimented with that much, sorry!
Posts like this are why you’re one of the few DIY cosmetic and skincare people I trust! Science always backs up your points and everything is very well sourced. I also love that you encourage your readers to thoroughly research things beyond your own blog posts.
Thanks for all you do, much appreciated!
Thank you so much, Laura! ❤️
Would you be able to provide us with the names of a product or two that you feel good enough about to use? Preferably with a link that will reward you with a few pennies for your excellent research and honesty.