SunBLOG

This summer I’ve decided (because who are we kidding, I’m the crazy one, not D) that we’re going to invest in organic sunscreen. I’m big on the idea of covering up and avoiding but my I know I need to loosen up a bit and let my kid see the sun.


Our pre-organic favourite sunscreen is Ombrelle Kids by L’Oreal Paris. We used it last year and we’ve mostly been using it this year (more on that later). All of my research has come from EWG.org who state that only 17% of sunscreens on the market effectively block UVA/UVB, remain stable in sunlight and contain “few if any ingredients with significant known or suspected health hazards”. I would highly suggest taking a minute to go and search the sunscreen brand you are using to see how it rates (0-2 Low Hazard, 3-6 Moderate Hazard, 7-10 High Hazard) because some of the most popular brands (Banana boat Baby (rated 6), Coppertone Kids (rated 3-5) and Aveeno Baby (rated 4-7)) are hit and miss. Our sunscreen wasn’t too bad at (rated 4) and I’m ok to keep it as our “primary non-organic brand”, at least for now. During pregnancy I did use Banana boat Sport which has recently had press stating it is connected to birth defects. Crazy, right? We SLATHER this shit on ourselves and our kids. It’s not a small amount of hand cream so it’s hard to read stuff like that.

So far finding an organic sunscreen that we like has been a challenge. We’re used to the feel and texture of non-organic and organic sunscreen doesn’t compare. We’re also used to pretty smelling sunscreen (Coconut!), and organic sunscreen.... bleh. It’s like wanting delivery and getting stuck with a frozen pizza.

After researching A LOT of the options, I’d narrowed down two sunscreens we’d try. I’ve looked at so many EWG (ewg.org) reports and most of the sunscreens I’ve investigated have rated a 1 or 2 yet they have varied when looking at certain chemicals and UVA/UVB protection. At the top of my list and the two we’ve purchased were Badger and Green Beaver. I liked these two because they both have an “Excellent” UVA protection when many of the others were ranked as “Good”. They also got major bonus points for being available at Whole Foods and as such, are readily available for me to test and buy.

Badger: (rated 1) This stuff is THICK. Sadie looks like she hasn’t bathed in days after a single application. My mother hates it so much that she has practically been dumpster diving at our house to find any sunscreen other than it. I’m not kidding, she’s actually retrieved sunscreen (Banana boat baby) out of the depths of our bathroom cabinet. We’re going to use the rest of the tube ( 87ml/$16.99) and future purchases are TBD. FYI – I’d used this on my friend’s foster son who has very very dark African skin and he turned MAUVE and glittered a bit. So if your kid isn’t fair like Sadie, don’t buy this, it doesn’t blend well on pigmented skin.

Green Beaver: (rated 1) I like this stuff, sort of. It isn’t as greasy as Badger but it still has an odd consistency and it smells like a potato chip when you’re applying it. Also, it feels sticky on your skin when you first put it on but good after it’s been on for the 20 min before sun exposure. Overall I think this is our top choice so far (90 ml/$19.99).

Other brands we’ve looked at include:

Nature’s Gate – Lower rated so we avoided, rated a 2 when the other Organic Sunscreens we were looking at were rated 1.
Heiko – I couldn’t find a rating on this but it was a mud like colour, similar to a mud mask. It didn’t seem greasy but it was very hard to work in.
Alba – This is 3rd on my list for available lotions at Whole Foods it’s only downfall is that it’s UVA rating is “Good” instead of excellent.

I’m looking for feedback on the following I can't in Canada:
Earth’s Best
California Baby

Is anyone else trying Organic? What do you think?