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I wrote a post about cautions of homemade sunscreens which I recommend reading before deciding whether or not it may be something you want to try.
I’ve shared my favorite commercially available and homemade sunscreen recipes. These both are water resistant sunscreens. Today I want to share a lighter, though not water resistant homemade natural sunscreen recipe. It’s easy to make, only 2 ingredients (with an optional 3rd ingredient)!
Homemade Natural Sunscreen Ingredients
1/4 cup (54 grams) coconut oil
1 1/2 tsp (3.5 grams) non-nano zinc oxide powder (I use non-nano so the zinc ozide rests on the surface of my skin to form a physical barrier between my skin and the sun, rather than absorbing into my skin)
5 drops red raspberry seed oil
microwave safe container, such as a mason jar
popsicle stick or spoon to stir
In all of my recipes (body products, soaps, and baking), I have found much better accuracy with weighing ingredients instead using measuring spoons and measuring cups. I recommend investing in a digital kitchen scale. I personally love this American Weigh Scales digital kitchen scale.
Instructions
1. Melt 54 grams coconut oil in your microwave safe container. I like to use my storage container, a mason jar.
2. Careful not to inhale any powder, add 3.5 grams zinc oxide powder to the coconut oil and stir to mix. The zinc oxide has a tendency to sink, so as the coconut oil cools and solidifies, stir periodically. If you forget and the oil solidifies completely, you should be able to soften with a few seconds in the microwave.
3. Optionally, add 5 drops red raspberry seed oil, and mix again to evenly distribute the oil.
Use
To use, I scoop (or scrape such as with a popsicle stick if the air and therefore coconut oil is very cold) and rub into my skin until the zinc oxide whiteness is no longer visible.
I use coconut oil as a moisturizer, so I don’t notice much difference in feel of this sunscreen from coconut oil moisturizer.
As I previously mentioned, this sunscreen is not water proof or water resistant. Therefore, I do not recommend this for swimming or heavy sweating (I use my other sunscreen recipe for that!) I like this light sunscreen for everyday use.
Cost
Organic coconut oil – $14.99 for 54 oz (1458.99 g) at BJ’s Wholesale Club; (54g/1458.99g)x$14.99=$0.555 (or on Amazon for $16.99)
Organic red raspberry seed oil – $8.37 for 1.1 oz (650 drops) on Amazon; (5 drops/650 drops)x$8.37=$0.064
Zinc oxide powder – $8.95 for 1 lb (453.59 g) on Amazon; (3.5g/453.59g)x$8.95=$0.069
Total: $0.69 for 1/4 cup (57.5 grams = 2.03 oz), equating to $0.34 per ounce weight.
Before I paid attention to the ingredients in my products, I used to use a Eucerine face lotion with SPF 30. It’s currently on Amazon for $5.51 less 25% coupon = $4.14 for 4 oz, which is $1.03/ounce. My recipe is 1/3 the price, and all natural!
Do you have a favorite everyday sunscreen moisturizer?