DIY Sunscreen - a dangerous trend
Recently, social media has been full of instructions and videos showing people making their own sun care. The idea behind this is often to protect yourself from ‘unpleasant’ ingredients, but unfortunately this approach quickly turns into the opposite.
Whilst it is still relatively easy to make your own shampoo or lip balm, sun care should definitely be left to the experts.
Here's why:
- Commercial sun creams are thoroughly tested to ensure that they offer the stated sun protection factor (SPF). Homemade sunscreens do not go through these tests, and it is very difficult to determine the actual protection.
- Formulating sun cream requires a deep understanding of chemistry and dermatology. Simple DIY recipes from the internet often do not provide the necessary protection and can even cause skin irritation. These are usually limited to a few oils in which zinc oxide is to be suspended. However, this is neither evenly possible nor do the oils offer sufficient protection against UV radiation. In addition, unpleasant by-products of non-stabilised oils can be formed, particularly through sunlight and oxygen.
In addition, unpleasant by-products of non-stabilised oils can be created by sunlight and oxygen.
Zinc oxide cannot simply be suspended using conventional equipment. In most cases, this is not possible evenly. Therefore, it is not possible to accurately determine the SPF based on the amount of zinc oxide used.
So, if you care about your skin, please stay away from this trend and rely on the tested products you can get on the market.
Of course, there are natural products that have a supporting effect in sun care and can even boost the SPF. In addition to the oils mentioned above, these can also be plant extracts.
You will also find some examples of these in our range:
PS. Incidentally, Nutella has an SPF of 9.7, coconut oil has an SPF of 8, so only use tested sun creams for safe protection.
Interesting links
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31111735/
https://www.skincancer.org/de/blog/is-homemade-sunscreen-safe/
