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Last week in the US everyone got hit with a major heatwave. Some people chose to ride it through by jumping in a pool and others chose to hide inside. Either way, everyone was thinking about the sun and sunscreen. Even the news! My mom called me on Monday to tell me about a report she was watching on the news about how often you need to reapply sunscreen.
But I’ve trained my mom well. Right after she told me about the report, I asked her “what sunscreens they suggested to use?”. Her response: “Nothing Safe!”
Why it’s time to switch to mineral sunscreen.
Yes, everyone is getting better about applying sunscreen, but now we really need to get better about what sunscreen we’re applying. Back in March I did a breakdown of why you need to wear sunscreen all of the time and what the bad active ingredients in sunscreen are. Today we’re going to talk about the differences between chemical (bad) and mineral (good) sunscreens.
Chemical vs. Mineral Sunscreen
Chemical Sunscreens
These are your “sun filters.” The majority of the sunscreens contain the chemicals we’ve discussed before like avobenzone, oxybenzone or octocrylene (which aren’t that great for you). They’re called sun filters because they absorb the sun’s UV energy and release it back into the air as heat.
Why are they so popular? They’re easy! They easily blend into your skin and so many of them are cheap. Unfortunately chemical sunscreens also have the potential for skin irritation.
Mineral Sunscreens
So what are mineral sunscreens? It’s sunscreen that is made out of zinc oxide and titanium dioxide (as the active ingredients). Those are physical particles that sit on the surface of the skin and scatter or reflect sun’s rays away from the skin. Mineral sunscreens are great for people with sensitive skin.
It’s also good because have it reflect the sun off of your skin can help you avoid any of the negative effects caused by having the sun sit on top of your skin.
What’s a safe mineral sunscreen to use?
Okay, there are quite a few sunscreens we can talk about, but let’s talk about my favorite, Countersun by Beautycounter!
I’ve been using the stick and lotion all summer and I love them! They’re so easy to use and it’s great to use them knowing that they’re safe to use.
So now I want to give you a chance to try them out as well! I know that switching to new products can be hard, so I want to try to make it a little easier for you. If you make a purchase of $50 or more at Beautycounter before Sunday, July 28th at 11:59pm, I’ll send you a few samples of Countersun sunscreen so you can try it out for yourself!
All you need to do is forward your receipt to dana@somethinggoodblog.com once you’ve placed your order.
Now go find your safer sunscreen!
Photos via Beautycounter.com
