My goal is to educate people that safe sun protection begins with lifestyle, not sunscreen even though so much emphasis is unjustifiably put on sunscreen products. In doing so, I’m not trying to villify anyone or promote homemade sunscreen. You can buy plain, inexpensive, conventional zinc oxide cream to use as sunscreen. But if want variety, i.e. control the level of ZnO, water-resistancy, well then, I’m simply providing a solution.

Most of the highest rated sunscreens that EWG recommends all have micronized zinc oxide. Though it may be safer than chemical sunscreens, the safety of nanotechnology as used in skin care is hotly debated. Nano-ZnO is great in electronics and weatherproof outdoor materials, but on your skin?

The safest sunscreen is still plain zinc oxide, the same kind manufacturers made and consumers used decades ago. The reason why it’s not currently marketed as a sunscreen product today is somewhere along the way in the short history (4 decades) of massive sunscreen use, the industry decided that consumers want transparent sunscreens. So it’s purely for aesthetic reasons. No, you do not have to look like a clown to use plain zinc oxide sunscreens – you can control the level of transparency.

Having said all that, most people don’t even need to use sunscreen as an everyday product. It was originally invented for those who needed to extend their time in the sun longer than they ought to reasonably. Lifestyle changes can reduce or even eliminate its use. Sometimes, the greener option is to find ways to use less of a resource.

It seems you really want to make your own sunscreen and will look for any reason to justify doing so, including vilifying enviro nonprofits whose work is specifically to help people avoid dangerous products. I don’t think there’s any convincing you, so I’m at least glad you seem to be taking whatever precautions you can.

Wabi Sabi Baby’s last blog post..Common Sense Sun Protection and Homemade Sunscreens

I don’t use sunscreen very often because I am outside for less than 1 hour per day and not at peak times plus I have a severe Vitamin D deficiency that requires a fair amount of unprotected sun exposure to manage. I do have Keys Solar Rx for longer times in the sun, and it works well and rates very low on the EWG site. Plus, it isn’t tested on animals and is vegan and gluten-free. I avoid gluten in any products due to my celiac disease, but I think it is especially important in anything that goes on my hands where it could be transferred to my mouth.