Synthetic sunscreens have been definitively linked to damage to ocean life and coral communities. Making your own is easy, effective, and safer for the animals we share the oceans with. Go deep in exploring the details of sunscreen toxicity, natural ingredients, and a great recipe with Julie James, herbalist.

Learn more at our Facebook Page, where we have weekly live feeds: www.facebook.com/greenwisdomLongBeach

And visit our website, www.greenwisdomherbalstudies.com

Pick up a copy of our eBook, Herbal Honeys, http://www.greenwisdomherbalstudies.c...

Sunscreen recipe:
90 grams coconut oil
65 grams olive oil or other carrier oil
(above oils may be plain, or infused with herbs. Mine are infused with St John's Wort and Chaparral)
28 grams beeswax
28 grams shea butter* or cocoa butter
40 grams zinc oxide
200 IU vitamin E
essential oils (optional)

Infuse oils with herbs (or not ;) ). Melt beeswax with oils in double boiler. Add butters (see note below on shea butter) and remove from heat. When the butters are completely melted, add zinc oxide powder and vitamin E. Cool.
Using immersion blender, whip butter until fluffy, adding essential oils if you're using them.

*shea butter can be tricky to work with, and I see so many people make funky products with it! Shea likes to crystallize, and will form beads of butter as it stands, marring your silky, lovely cream. The key to working with shea butter is to temper it. Heat to 170 degrees or so, so that stearic acid, a fatty acid that is the cause of the graininess, completely dissolves. Finish with your formulation, and then, and this is the important part, place the butter in the freezer or refrigerator to cool VERY quickly. Once solid, remove from refrigerator.
Incomplete heating and slow cooling of shea (and sometimes cocoa or mango) butter is the culprit that causes grainy butters.
have fun! Let me know how you like the formula!