Feed your thirst for vitamin D without the chemical baggage.
Summer is in full swing and you’re soaking up the sweet summer sun. But as you bask in a sunbeam, how are you protecting your skin? According to the Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) comprehensive review of sunscreens, many of these products may be doing more harm than good.
When in doubt about what’s sold on store shelves, get in the kitchen and make your own. You’ll know exactly what’s going in it and you can fully trust the quality. According to the EWG, the safest sunscreens create a physical barrier to block both UVB and UVA rays and contain stable antioxidants to protect us from free radical damage.
Here’s your new fave summer recipe to protect your pristine skin.
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp goji berries
- 120 ml olive oil
- 120 ml shea butter
- 1 tsp melted beeswax
- 1 ml vitamin E
- 1/3 tsp raspberry seed oil or carrot seed oil
- 100 ml distilled water
- 3 Tbsp zinc oxide
- Optional essential oils for scent, but avoid citrus oils as they increase sun sensitivity.
Method
- Infuse olive oil with goji berries for at least 24 hours, then strain with cheesecloth or nut milk bag, setting oil aside. Top up to 120 mL if needed.
- Boil distilled water then set aside.
- Melt beeswax in a double boiler. Add shea butter and melt. Add infused olive oil and stir. Remove from heat and add vitamin E and raspberry or carrot seed oil and any essential oils.
- In a separate container, mix heated distilled water and zinc and stir well to dissolve.
- When both oil and water mixtures are similar temperatures, approximately 70 degrees C, you can begin to mix the two together.
- Add water mixture a little at a time to the oils, using either a whisk or blender (I find a hand-held immersion blender works great) and stir to turn into a creamy lotion. To ensure ingredients won’t separate later, stir or whisk until lotion has cooled to room temperature (you can speed this up by placing the container into a bowl of cold water).
- Pour into containers and store in the fridge when not in use, will keep for at least a year, if stored properly.
- There you go! Broad-spectrum sun protection, thanks to the zinc oxide, with antioxidant-rich oils to protect your skin from free radical damage that is smooth, creamy and smells like sunshine.
Got questions? Contact Kathrin from For the Love of the Body. They offer a range of hands-on workshops – from soaps to salves and ferments to foraging.
