Sunscreen: waterproof and paraben-free?

I have been a fan of Badger for the past few years but you may not like the smell, kind of a cocoa butter smell.

I am about to order Thinksport (http://www.amazon.com/Thinksport-Livestrong-Sunscreen-Resistant-ounces/dp/B004CDRUOA/ref=pd_sim_sbs_bt_1) this summer instead because the price of Badger went up. Has high ratings on Amazon and is only a 1 on EWG's sunscreen database (http://www.ewg.org) so looks really promising. Also saw that someone described the smell as "lemony" so that might work for you! 

When I rub the babyganics into my kids it is white at first but once it is rubbed in we have no issues with leftover residue.

'Climb on' mineral sunscreen report - No white skin.  Fragrance, what tiny bit I could detect, went away in the first few minutes.  Leaves a little bit of a greasy feel for a little while but that goes away too.  I'll try it in the pool today.  Didn't irritate my skin at all.

Hi All, 

Not sure if this is helpful, but in these articles we provide a link to where to look up sunscreen options. 

http://www.breastcancer.org/risk/factors/sunscreen

http://community.breastcancer.org/livegreen/have-fun-in-the-sun-but-protect-your-skin/

Best, 

The Mods

I'm indoors most of the time but when I get moved and back out into the garden I plan to use clothing rather than a sunscreen that comes in a bottle or tube. According to this fact sheet put out by Southern University, ordinary denim jeans have an SPF of 90! I'll need to get a sun-shirt, because ordinarily I wear knit teeshirts and they aren't much protection at all, and a hat too. The clothing will cost a lot more upfront than sunscreen in a bottle, but it will last longer and not have to be reapplied periodically during the day.

Clothing might work best for those that live in the PNW??? May not be realistic for those in hotter climates & those of us who exercise outdoors. I use clothing for gardening(I actually call it yardwork & don't really like it). I live on Calif' central coast tho.

I recently bought a tube of burts bees spf 30. It says non whitening but I haven't tried it yet. It was 75 percent off so I figured why not. All natural.

This is an interesting thread- thanks! I have made the switch to healthy eating, hormone-free dairy and meats, and sulfate-free products but haven't been on the lookout for paraben-free. I dimly remember that paraben is bad but hadn't thought much about it. Can anyone please elaborate for all of us not in the know?



Thanks!!

The train of thought is that parabens can mimic estrogen.  Some claim it is truth based, others don't think it is much cause for concern.  I myself have been switching to paraben free products, including shower gel, shampoo, conditioner, hair gel, deodorant, mascara, lip gloss.  I plan to purchase paraben free make-up such as foundation, blush, eyebrow pencil and eyeliner. I also want to look into paraben free hand soap/liquid, because that's something that's frequently used.

When you think about it, there are SO SO SO many products we use and rub into our bodies.  Is it no wonder something like bc is so prevalent in our culture?

As for the above products I use, I also don't want to break the bank.  I find reasonably priced products at Walgreens and sometimes Walmart.  I use the ewg website to find out what products are paraben free with good ratings and often surf the web looking at prices. Mostly I like to buy in a local store when I can.

Sciencegal, parabens are a type of preservative used to inhibit mold & bacteria growth in many cosmetics & skin care products. There have been some studies showing parabens to mimic estrogen, and also parabens have been found in breast tumors. I think the research is still unclear & controversial -- from what I understand, there is no solid causative link with BC (yet) -- but I personally prefer to stick with more natural products whenever possible. (Not sure it has worked that well though, since I was avoiding parabens long before I got BC!!)

Edit: Oops, I guess the question was already answered while I was typing this! 

One of the problems with ingredients, is that the amount in the particular product may be low. But the average woman probably uses 6-20 products daily that all contain the ingredient. I don't think I would be any happier if they found parabens in healthy breast tissue, because I don't think it's good for us to absorb and accumulate chemicals. We are exposed to enough things we don't know about. The Europeans seem to pay more attention. Many chemicals in our products are banned in Europe.

Following up on the above comments, I was shocked to read that the average woman applies more than 500 chemicals to her body every day during her beauty routine!   http://safecosmetics.org/article.php?id=1149

Here's another resource for truly natural and wholesome sunscreens, etc.   http://www.healingfinds.com/

dlb, great link!  I've bookmarked it for future reference.  That's exactly what I mean; most of us give no thought to the chemicals we slather on our skin each day.

One of my first changes in cosmetics after bc was with lip gloss.  Since then, I've only used Burt's Bees, which actually turns out to be my favorite lip gloss I ever used.  It just made sense to me to switch that out since it's on the lips and you're swallowing its contents as you lick your lips and go about daily living.  It has a low hazard score on the skindeep website.  I started using it because it was easily purchased at Walmart.  When first diagnosed, I had absolutely no idea there was organic cosmetics anything.

DermaMed 80% natural Sunblock is the one I use after trying out other 'turn you white' ones. Works very well and very waterproof.  Never found a true 100% natural option.

When I was diagnosed, I threw out any remaining unhealthy makeup, soaps and cleaners in my home. I'd been heading that way after my daughter had been diagnosed with a rare type of ovarian cancer. (she is well and even has a new baby!)  I decided it was a 'right of passage' for me to get rid of the 'iffy' stuff. What I've found is that the all natural makeups actually cost less than some of the other 'expensive' makeup I had. Granted, I don't use a lot of makeup, so not a huge cost to replace, nor have I found replacing shampoos and cleaners with natural products expensive, or less effective.  Highly recommend www.ewg.org, that Indenial mentioned above. Even the health food stores carry some products that are not ideal and this is the site to get the real lowdown.

Great topic, ClairInez, thanks for starting it.

  dlb823, whoooaaaa.. burt bees owned by chlorox? Too strange.  Speaking of clorox... here's the best list I've found for all natural cleaning products- simple, cheap, natural  https://www.aspenclean.com/natural_cleaning_recipes