The busy holiday period is soon to be upon us and I know many of you guys are going to flock straight to the sun. As you can see on my instagram (ohmyskin) my holiday of a lifetime has just unfortunately ended (I am now quite rightfully in a pit of despair)! I visited the stunning and truly ‘awesome’ West coast of America, California! What an amazing trip it was! I have to admit it wasn’t very restful and I feel like I still need a week off doing nothing to get my energy back! Anyway, it was so worth the expenditure of both energy and money! So I wanted to share with you guys one of the most important products to take with on holiday with you…….Sunscreen lotion (or Suntan lotion if you are British, or Creme Solaire if you are French like me)! This is the product I make sure never to forget when packing my luggage as I am very picky about the fact that it must be chemical free! Why chemical free? Well, I want to avoid certain synthetic ingredients that are usually present in traditional sunscreens (that I used to spread generously on my body^^ ) such as oxybenzone and octinoxate. It has been suggested that both may cause skin allergy and disrupt hormone and there seems to be more and more evidence to back this claim. If you want to know all the list of ingredients to avoid I highly recommend you to read this post from EWG!
I have tried quite a few natural sunscreens and have been mostly disappointed so far. Some of them left a very greasy finish or horrible white marks which is exactly what I don’t want. While I was on my roadtrip through California I tested 2 very good sunscreens so I thought I had to share them with you!
Green People Scent Free Sun Lotion SPF30 – I bought this sunscreen as it’s recommended for sensitive skin, so it’s a good one for my boyfriend as he can gets really bad breakouts with sunscreens and It’s scent free so it’s the perfect option for his perfume allergy, plus this lotion is packed with great skin-loving organic ingredients! It moisturises with olive oil, beeswax, avocado oil, soothes with aloe vera and protects with green tea which is a rich source of antioxidants! The texture is a bit thick and requires a bit of rubbing but it absorbs quickly, It doesn’t feel sticky or greasy and doesn’t leave any white-cast. It protected both of our skin really well as we both didn’t get sunburn, which is beyond impressive with his ridiculously white Scottish skin! I mainly used it for my body and found it was quite water resistant even though they can’t claim this on the packaging and just say it is water repellant! My boyfriend even tried washing it off without soap in an outdoor shower and had trouble removing it. Overall I was really happy with this sun lotion so I definitely recommend it and I will be repurchasing it for my next holiday :)
Ingredients list: Aqua (Spring Water), Isoamyl P-Methoxycinnamate (Naturally Occurring Uv-Filter), Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil*, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil*, Elaeis Guineensis (Palm) Oil*^, Titanium Dioxide [Nano] (Mineral Uv-Filter), Diethylamino Hydroxybenzoyl Hexyl Benzoate, Cetearyl Alcohol (Emulsifying Plant Wax), Glyceryl Stearate (Plant Derived Emulsifier), Cetearyl Glucoside (Plant Derived Emulsifier), Cera Alba (Beeswax)*, Aloe Barbadensis (Aloe Vera) Leaf Juice Powder*, Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil*, Chamomilla Recutita (Chamomile) Flower Extract*, Althaea Officinalis (Marshmallow) Root Extract*, Camellia Sinensis (Green Tea) Leaf Extract*, Leontopodium Alpinum (Edelweiss) Leaf Extract*, Commiphora Myrrha (Myrrh) Oil^, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract*, Sodium Stearoyl Glutamate (Plant Derived Emulsifier), Gluconolactone, Sodium Benzoate, Calcium Gluconate , Sodium Dehydroacetate, Phytic Acid. *82.2% Organic, ^Fairly Traded
MyChelle Sun Shield SPF 28 Unscented – I have to admit that I was a bit surprised when I received this one as I didn’t expect it to be such a small bottle (68ml) and I obviously wasn’t paying my usual (worryingly obsessive) level of attention when I purchased it on the website. I had just presumed it was going to be a similar quantity as the Green People 200ml bottle. Bearing this in mind I think it’s very pricey at £21 for such a small quantity! However it really is a pretty good sunscreen, it contains physical filter zinc oxide which is a super effective sun-protective shield, and soybean oil which acts as an antioxidant while glycerin moisturizes the skin.
I mainly used this one for my face. It’s fragrance free as well. It comes out a bit thick but spreads much more easily when compared to the Green People lotion. It absorbs quickly into the skin and leaves a great matte finish that feels really lightweight (it works nicely under makeup). I have to confess that I did (stupidly) spend quite a bit of time out in direct sunshine between 11am and 3pm when the sun is the strongest but thankfully I didn’t get burned so it seems to give good protection! It’s a good product that I wish I could rebuy but because of the price I think I will stick with the Green People next time I’m back on the road!
Active Ingredients: 11.6% Zinc Oxide (ZinClear™), 0.67% Titanium Dioxide. Inactive Ingredients: Alcohol, Allantoin, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice Powder*, Alumina, Aqua (Water), Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Cetearyl Alcohol, Glucoside, Citric Acid, Coco-Caprylate/Caprate, Dicaprylyl Ether, Fructooligosaccharides (D-Beta), Gluconolactone, Glycerin, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil, Glyceryl Isostearate, Hamamelis Virginiana (Witch Hazel Water), Isononyl Isononanoate, Magnesium Aluminium Silicate, Polyhydroxystearic Acid, Polyglyceryl-6 Polyricinoleate, Polysorbate 60, Potassium Sorbate, Simethicone, Sodium Benzoate, Squalane, Tocopheryl Acetate (D-alpha), Trisodium Ethylenediamine, Xanthan Gum.
Let me know in the comments which Sunscreen you are going to use this summer. I will give it a try on my next holiday.
