This homemade sunscreen post originated as a sponsored post. All opinions are mine alone.
Are you worried about chemicals in skincare products? Make your own homemade mineral sunscreen.
We are an active fit family! We regularly walk, bike, and camp together. All that activity means that we spent a lot of time outside. I sunburned pretty quickly as a child, so my parents always made sure that I was covered with sunscreen and appropriate clothing.
I have continued to apply sunscreen before going out in the sun but I still got skin cancer last year. My fair skin gets checked regularly by a dermatologist, so the basal cell carcinoma was a small spot that was completely removed with a simple office procedure. I will continue to be vigilant about protecting my skin from the sun.
I am concerned about my family’s health and well-being. When I was researching skin cancer, I discovered that a lot of skincare products contain chemicals that are bad for you.
This got me wondering if commercial sunscreens are safe or not. I have not found an answer, but I have decided to keep my family’s skin safe by making my own homemade sunscreen.
I am using whole ingredients that I feel are safe. Create your own to keep your family safe.
DIY Homemade Mineral Sunscreen
The initial investment may seem like a lot, but the ingredients will make many batches.
Ingredients
- coconut oil
- jojoba oil
- beeswax
- shea butter
- vitamin E oil
- red raspberry seed essential oil
- non-nano zinc oxide powder
- double boiler
How to Make Sunblock
- measure Ingredients
- melt solid ingredients in a double boiler
- stir in raspberry oil and zinc oxide
- store in an airtight container
Detailed Natural Sunblock Instructions
Set up the double boiler with boiling water on the bottom. I used a metal bowl over a pan with shallow water.
Place the coconut oil, jojoba oil, beeswax*, and vitamin E oil in the top pan/bowl.
*Increase or decrease the amount of beeswax you add to thin or thicken your sunblock.
Stir these solid ingredients together until they are totally melted.
Remove the pan/bowl from the double boiler and stir in the red raspberry seed essential oil.
Stir in the zinc oxide powder. This will require a bit of stirring to get it fully mixed in.
Store in an airtight container. I put most of the homemade sunscreen in a wide mouth jar with the rest in a small baby food jar to take on the go.
I love the feel and smell of this sunscreen. It looks gritty in the jar, but it goes on so smoothly! It contains so many ingredients that your skin will love!
I tested it by applying it to one arm while putting commercial sunscreen on the other arm when I went biking last week. Neither arm got burned.
Update: We have used this sunblock at the beach and did not burn. The lotion is so thick that it did not rinse off immediately after being in the ocean.
In addition to the products we rub into our skin, I am concerned with other products that touch our skin. Therefore we use natural and organic products.
Homemade Sunblock
Worried about chemicals in your sunscreen? Create your own sunblock using mom-approved ingredients.
Materials
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- 1/4 cup jojoba oil
- 1/4 cup beeswax (increase or decrease to thin or thicken your sunscreen)
- 2 Tbsp shea butter
- 1 Tbsp vitamin E oil
- 25 drops of red raspberry seed essential oil
- 2-4 Tbsp non-nano zinc oxide powder
Tools
- double boiler
Instructions
- Bring water to boil in the bottom of your double boiler.
- Place the coconut oil, jojoba oil, beeswax, and vitamin E oil into the top of the double boiler.
- Stir these ingredients together over the boiling water until melted.
- Remove the pan/bowl and stir in the red raspberry seed essential oil into the melted mixture.
- Stir in the zinc oxide powder. Keep stirring until it is fully mixed in.
- Store the sunblock in an airtight container.
Notes
scroll up to find the links to the products I used
Cheryl
Thursday 11th of May 2017
What level of SPF would this be? I always wear at least 30 spf though my dermatologist told me last year that the number doesn't really mean all that much. though maybe he meant once it was that high going spf 50 wouldn't be much different.
Diana Rambles
Thursday 11th of May 2017
I believe it's about 30-50. Coconut oil and shea butter both have some SPF to them. The Red Raspberry Seed Oil has the most, plus the zinc oxide. I wish I could share a little of mine with you. I made a double batch and I think it's going to last me all summer. I was in the sun for a few hours on Tuesday and I didn't burn! :D