How to.... whip up your own sun protection

Sunscreen. It’s a billion-dollar market. But in many cases, sunscreen is harmful, not helpful. I let you do that research yourself, but meanwhile, here is a recipe idea for your own sun lotion. You’ll need quite a few ingredients, but if you are on your essential oil journey, chances are that you have a few in your cupboard already. If not, everything is available in any health food store or on Amazon - just make sure that you buy organic.

Most oils and butters already have a built-in SPF - coconut oil is SPF 8, and shea butter is SPF 4, raspberry SPF 30 and carrot seed oil SPF 40. You can exchange the jojoba oil for sweet almond, fractionated coconut or anything else you like. My particular cup was about 200ml.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup jojoba oil
1/4 cup beeswax
1/4 cup coconut oil (not fractionated)
4 tablespoons Shea butter
1 teaspoon Raspberry Seed Oil (optional)
1/2 teaspoon Carrot Seed oil (optional)
1 heaped tablespoon of non-nano Zinc Oxide
20 drops Lavender, 20 drops Lemon Eucalyptus (Other oils you might like: Frankincense, Cedarwood, Sandalwood, Helichrysum)

Method:

Fill a medium saucepan with a couple of inches of water and place over medium heat, place all ingredients except the zinc into a glass jar in the pan and stir until melted. Remove from heat, let cool a little bit, add essential oils. Choose any essential oils you like, but steer away from citrus oils, which are photosensitive. Add the Zinc, being really careful not to breathe it in, stir and let it set. If you like your sunscreen lighter, you can whisk it for 5-10 minutes. Keep in the fridge.