Chemical Free Sunscreen Recipe

Not everybody will want to make their own Sunscreen, but for those that want to give it a go, by far the most important benefit is that the ingredients are natural and safe for your body. Although you will need to pay upfront for them and buy more than you need for one batch of sunscreen, you can use these ingredients to make a lot of other products such as moisturisers, lip balms and aromatherapy massage oils for you and your family.

This sunscreen recipe is made with a combination of cold pressed oils, zinc oxide and beeswax, all of which will give a good level of protection from the sun's rays and give it slight water repellent properties. The texture is more like a body butter and may look and smell edible - but don't eat it! Measuring the exact protection from homemade sunscreen is not precise, so safe sun exposure should always be advised.

Ingredients

1/4 cup coconut oil (SPF 4-10)
1/4 cup shea butter (SPF 6-10)
1/8 cup sesame or jojoba oil (SPF 4-10)
2 tbsp. beeswax granules
1-2 tbsp. zinc oxide powder (optional, use high quality uncoated and not nano-particle grade and use a mask to make sure you don’t inhale the dust)
1 tsp. red raspberry seed oil 20-30 drops (SPF 28-50)
1 tsp. carrot seed carrier oil (SPF 38-40)
Essential oils of your choice (lavender, rosemary, vanilla, and/or peppermint are nice, but no citrus oils as these make your skin more sensitive to sunlight)

Instructions

Using a double boiler (or a small pan of water over very low heat, with a pyrex bowl on top of the pan, with ingredients in it), melt your coconut oil, sesame or jojoba oil, beeswax, and shea butter together. The beeswax will be the last to melt.
When the beeswax is melted, remove the mixture from the heat and let cool to room temperature. If you’re using zinc oxide, whisk it in at this point, being careful not to create a lot of dust. If there are some lumps, that’s OK. They will break up when you whip the body butter in step 4.
Move the mixture to the fridge for 15-30 minutes, long enough for it to start to set, but still be soft enough to be whipped.
Take the mixture out of the fridge and using a stand mixer or hand mixer, start to whip it. Drizzle in the red raspberry seed oil, the carrot seed oil, and any essential oils of your choice, and continue whipping until the mixture is light and fluffy.
Use as you would any regular sunscreen. How often you need to apply will depend on your activity and exposure to water. Store in a glass container in the fridge between uses, or decant a small amount into a small container to take out with you to the beach.