A blog by Herewith
We’ve all been there—desperate for sunscreen, looking around for whatever’s closest and convenient that will protect our skin at the last possible moment. But times have changed and we know a lot more than we did back when our moms would smother sunscreen on us against our will in the summers when we were younger. We know enough to tell you that maybe you should opt for what isn’t just close and convenient and last minute. And be proactive about the sunscreen you’re purchasing—not just for you, but for the environment as well. Here’s why.
Most of the big brand sunscreens you’re familiar with contain chemicals like oxybenzone and octinoxate which are troublesome for your skin and the environment. For instance, if you’re swimming in the beautiful waters of Hawaii and your sunscreen rubs off your skin into the water, these two chemicals it carries are toxic to the coral reef and other marine life, posing a serious environmental hazard when you think about all of the people wearing these types of sunscreens. Yikes.
Now that you know about the harm these chemicals can do, all you have to do is pay attention to the labels on your sunscreen the same way that you hopefully do with your food labels. So, we’ll say it here first: stop buying sunscreen with oxybenzone and octinoxate! If you paid attention at all during that high school economics course, if there is no demand, there will be no supply. We’ve illustrated the issue with sunscreen, and why not to err down that big branded sunscreen aisle, let’s give you a solution. There ARE sunscreens out there that are good for you and the environment. (Phew. Finally a silver lining in this whole thing.) And one of those brands is Bare Republic. Their clear screen collection and mineral sunscreens are octinoxate free and oxybenzone free. SOLD.
Not only that, but they’re also fragrance free, paraben-free, phthalate-free, retinal palmitate-free, synthetic colorant-free, and vegan friendly. I honestly couldn’t tell you what half of those ingredients are. That’s why we’re happy Bare Republic is free of them. If we have no idea what these chemicals are, why would we so freely rub them all over our body and face? But, if you would like to know more about these chemicals and why they aren’t present in Bare’s products, head to their site for a little lesson. Knowledge is power.
