Enjoy that sun girl!
The sun is healthy for our bodies, our immune system and our mental health. You cannot create your own vitamin D without exposing yourself to direct sunlight (UV rays) for at least 30 minutes.
Almost everyone, especially in the US, is vitamin D deficient! Society as a whole typically spends far more time indoors than out and with people using sunblock and sunscreen (which most have toxic chemicals), it’s no wonder.
Keep in mind, human beings have survived for thousands and thousands and thousands of years cancer free without the use of modern day sunscreen and sunblock. Most people who live in the Caribbean do not use sunscreen. But they also did not “binge” on UV rays the way people do today. Throughout history people spent most of their time outdoors working, gathering, hunting, etc. When the skin has regular exposure to the sun, it does not burn the way it does the first time you go to the beach after a long winter of being covered up.
Think about a person with a “farmers tan”. That person goes to the beach and burns their back and chest, but not the arms. Why? Because the arms are consistently exposed to UV rays. It is accustomed to it. If that person always had on long sleeves, their arms would have also burned.
So, it is healthy to use a bunch of products during your regular, every day life that have sunscreen? In my opinion, no. Sun exposure is healthy for the immune system and is required for making vitamin D. Taking supplements is not normal if you look at the length of human history. It has also been proven over and over that the ingredients in normal sunscreen and sunblock are found in cancerous tumors and lymphatic tissue waiting for the body to process as a toxic chemical. That is definitely not healthy. Is it healthy to burn? No. Sun burns should be avoided.
SPF is defined by the FDA as a measure of how much solar energy (UV radiation) is required to produce sunburn on protected skin (i.e., in the presence of sunscreen) relative to the amount of solar energy required to produce sunburn on unprotected skin. In effect, the SPF value is the reciprocal of the effective transmission of the product viewed as a UV radiation filter.
The amount of solar energy the skin is exposed to depends on time of day and latitude. The effects depend on skin type and consistency of exposure to UV rays. Your specific skin type tolerance before burning may be 1 hour, 30 minutes or 5 minutes and it changes. Example: people who move closer to the equator, initially burn easy. Over the course of around a month, their skin builds a natural tolerance and they no longer burn as easy. It is good for you to find out your specific tolerance so you can properly time when you need to reapply, cover up or go go inside to prevent burning.
Burning is the hazardous part, not the sun exposure itself.
Build up to being outside for longer lengths of time naturally.
There are many plant oils that have a natural SPF to them. Staying close to nature is where you want to be. Nature provides EVERYTHING we need to live. If it didn’t, the human race would have never survived for this long. Keep in mind, all things considered, industry and big pharm is still new to the human race.
Defense has a lab tested SPF of 14 dry and an SPF of 12 after being submersed in water for 80 minutes. With that SPF, it is considered a moderate sun protection product and it is ocean, fish, reef and kid safe!
Healing and Young both tested to have an SPF of 6 dry.
Shea butter and cacao butter stand alone have an individual SPF of around 5 or 6.
There is no reason to put active, toxic chemicals, even in your “natural” brands, on your body. Read your labels with the purpose of actually understanding each and every ingredient. Don’t skim over what you don’t know. Look it up and go to more than one source to get ALL the information about it. You will be surprised at what you discover!
One more thing… when the FDA limits the amount of an ingredient that can be in a product, it’s usually because of its toxicity level. If you see a sunscreen that says “the most allowed by law or by FDA” avoid that sunscreen!!
SPF Clothing, does it really matter?
I’ll be honest with you, the only research I did about this was real life research.
Have you ever burned under your normal clothing?
Sure, thin clothing you can see through will allow the sun to kiss your skin, but a regular t-shirt or rash guard? No. I refer you to think about a farmers tan.
There are a lot of companies that jump on band wagons and try to sell you anything they can. The FDA talks about using clothing to cover up areas that do not have sunscreen. It mentions nothing about using clothing with a rated SPF. Personally, I am not going to pay extra for a rash guard because it says it has an SPF. My first thought is what chemicals are they using?
It is easy to get sucked into the hype, especially when a “trusted” brand is telling you its better. For them, it’s about getting your money, not doing what is right by you. Do not pay more for SPF rated clothing.