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Greening your exercise generally means doing it outside. With the sun's warming rays beckoning, seems now is the perfect time to oblige. But before you take the bait and bask, be sure to take the proper precautions and protect yourself with sunscreen—naturally.
Yes, even athletes use a barrier to thwart the sun's temptation to turn their skin into leather. But more than just skin deep, the harsh rays can potentially damage your immune system, breakdown collagen (the root of wrinkles), and form free radicals (which can lead to many cancers).
So what's an outdoor lover to do? Slather yourself with ample amounts of SPF, and wear a hat!
Now...don't even attempt to use sweating as an excuse to lather up! Because it's not an excuse anymore! That's one of the many reasons we love natural SPF's—they don't contain a lot of those nasty (and harmful) chemicals that turn eyeballs beat red if a bead of sweat happens to roll off your forehead. As for water sports—that's what waterproof is for!
Dr. Rob Streisfeld, a Naturopathic doctor, has never been a fan of sunscreens. "The skin is a living, breathing organ of the body. To cover it up with substances to protect it from the sun may be too often be counterproductive. This is definitely the case when chemicals and artificial ingredients are used."
The majority of sunscreens found on the shelves in drugstores and supermarkets touting SPF are loaded with harmful chemicals that don't just sit on the skin, but soak in and get absorbed into the body through the skin. Many of those chemical ingredients are obvious?you seemingly need a degree in Organic Chemistry to understand what they are. The problem is that many of them have been shown to disrupt hormonal systems and increase the production of free radicals, while hardly protecting you from UVA and UVB rays.
A few of the bad boys to avoid in sunscreens:
- Avobenzone
- Benzophenone (benzophenone-3)
- Homosalate & Octy-methoxycinnamate (octinoxate)
- Padimate-O
What to look for in sunscreens
According to Dr. Streisfeld, "the key to healthy skin is to keep the body healthy overall: get sun exposure, but not too much, and nourish the skin after sun exposure with natural products using herbs and plants (like aloe vera), and healthy oils."
When using a natural sunscreen, Dr. Streisfeld says that Zinc Oxide is a key ingredient in natural formulas as it deflects the sun's rays. Another similar key ingredient is Titanium Dioxide. When combined with clean, non-toxic ingredients like shea butter, beeswax, unrefined oils, green tea, chamomile, etc. there is a nourishing and protective effect on the skin.
Dr. Streisfeld also stresses the importance of antioxidants to help protect the skin from free-radical damage.
But it's not just the ingredients that deem a product eco. You have to take the packaging into consideration as well. Yup, more and more beauty companies are focusing on greening their boxes in addition to what's in them and using post consumer recycled materials as well as biodegradable packaging.
We know, there are lots of options out there and it's hard to distinguish the green, natural and chemically-laden. So we have sifted through the masses for you. Here are a few to try:
Sunscreens That Are Good for You and the Planet
- Eminence Organics' all-natural Sun Defense Minerals provides intense SPF 30 sun protection in the form of a make-up powder. The tinted powder is sweat-proof and water-resistant, hypoallergenic, anti-inflammatory, plus it is naturally anti-bacterial and will not clog pores. This stuff may look (and make you look) pretty, but it is SERIOUS protection for even the most exercise-enthused. More than their ingredients, Eminence boxes are made from 30% post consumer recycled material, the wooden boxes are made from 50% post consumer recycled material, plus their plastic containers are made out of non-toxic, recycled material. Love!
- ilike Organic Skin Care Tomato Suntan Lotion (SPF 22) filters the sun's harmful rays and prevents tomato-red skin with, yes, tomato (plus a slew of other natural ingredients like sesame oil, carrot, aloe and titanium dioxide). The handpicked, organically grown ingredients are rich with body beautifying and protecting lycopenes, bioflavonoids and carotenoids and perfect for every skin type.
- ISun Organic Skincare Antioxidant Sun Butter Level 18 Sunblock Cell Protection blends mango seed butter with zinc oxide and Phytoplankton Phytolyase enzymes into a melt-on-your-skin body butter that not only guards against sunburns, but also lets your skin lap up the nutritive ingredients for seriously show-stopping beauty!
- California Baby SPF 30+ Sunscreen No Fragrance isn't just for babies. What's great about California Baby is that it is safe for sensitive skin, free of artificial scents, and has no irritating chemicals while still providing UVA-UVB broad-spectrum protection. More than natural ingredients, California Baby is as eco as possible using minimal packaging (no boxes or clamshells), recycled paper and soy inks, plus they use biodegradable packing peanuts.
- Lavanila Pure Vanilla Healthy Lip Butter SPF 15 ensures that your pucker stays healthy and plump during hot days too! We love that it is all-natural and filled with pure shea, kokum, illipe and cocoa butters to deeply moisturize, Goji Berry and Vitamin E to deliver loads of essential vitamins and amino acids, plus natural SPF 15 to protect.
