The sunshine came early this year.  It’s been such a mild winter and an amazing spring.  Mom’s are already talking about the best sunscreens to buy for the summer.  The favorite at our house is by Badger Balm.  The main ingredient?  Zinc Oxide. 

Active Sunscreen Ingredient: Non-Nano, Uncoated Zinc Oxide 18.75%
Other Sunscreen Ingredients: *Olea Europaea (Extra Virgin Olive) Oil, *Cera Alba (Beeswax), *Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Oil, *Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Butter, *Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Tocopherol (Natural Vitamin E), and CO₂ Extract of *Hippophae Rhamnoides (Seabuckthorn).

* = Certified Organic

Application Notes: For maintained protection, sunscreen reapplication is recommended after 40 minutes of swimming or sweating, after towel drying, and at least every 2 hours. Children under 6 months of age: ask a doctor.  Where to Buy.

From Mercola.com:

“… the sun actually protects you from cancer and about 50,000 Americans die every year from cancers that could have been treated by having higher vitamin D levels from proper sun exposure.

What most physicians fail to appreciate is that the major risk factor for melanoma is not sun exposure but a distortion of the balance of omega-6 and omega-3 fats. You can read the article Mercola wrote on that for more information.

Does excessive, irrational exposure to the sun contribute to skin cancer? Certainly. But this is easily minimized by limiting your exposure early in the season to before 10 a.m or after 2-3 p.m. when the rays are the strongest. You can also use protective shirts and hats to block the sun.

Another fatal flaw in the sunblock recommendation is that most of the commercial products are loaded with toxic chemicals that will cause you far more long-term damage than the sun you are seeking to protect yourself from.” – mercola.com

“Ultraviolet light from the sun comes in two main wavelengths – UVA and UVB.  It’s important for you to understand the difference between them, and your risk factors from each.

Consider UVB the ‘good guy’ that helps your skin produce vitamin D.

UVA is considered the ‘bad guy’ because it penetrates your skin more deeply and causes more free radical damage.  Not only that, but UVA rays are quite constant during ALL hours of daylight, throughout the entire year — unlike UVB, which are low in morning and evening, and high at midday.

If you’ve ever gotten a scorching sunburn on a cloudy day, you now understand why; it’s from the deeply penetrating UVA!

Since UVA’s are inherently more damaging, AND persistently high during all daylight hours, wearing a sunscreen that doesn’t protect you from UVA is going to give you virtually no benefit, and be detrimental to your overall health.

Two non-toxic ingredients that scatter both UVB and the more damaging UVA rays are titanium dioxide and zinc oxide. They’ve been used all over the world for over 75 years as safe sunscreens.”  -mercola.com

EWG Skin Deep Sunscreen Safety Scale

I appreciate the rating system over at the EWG Skin Deep website where all the sunscreen’s you can think of have been tested.  Badger Balm comes in at a safe 1 rating on the 0-10 scale.  They even have a Hall of Shame list that will probably shock you as they dominate the center isles at the super markets.  Not to worry though because the list for Best Sunscreens makes it easy to replace that toxic sunscreen you used last summer.

Kevin and I don’t go too crazy when it comes to limiting sun exposure.  We enjoy the outdoors and when I have a newborn I tend to keep the wee babies in the shade.  The older kiddos get Badger Balm, probably a hat, and off they go.  We do take a massive umbrella
with us to soccer and t-ball games too.  I used my yoga mat over some suitcases on the beach last summer to protect 3 month old Vaylee from noontime rays.  And I LOVE my muslin blankets during the summer with a new baby.  They are super light weight but provide good coverage.

We have a fun giveaway to start off the sunny season!  Mama’s please share with us what sunscreen you use at your house to protect your little ones.  On May 1st a free tube of Badger Balm Sunscreen will be given away randomly to a mama who shares here on this post.

5/3/12 And the random winner of some wonderful Badger Balm Sunscreen is……Leslie Clinton!  Thank you to everyone who contributed by sharing with us all the great & safe sunscreens that real moms are using.