Review (5/5): Works well
My usual sun protection is avoidance. I have sensitive, allergic, rosacea skin. I'm allergic to most chemical sunscreens, so decided that I would make my own this Spring. Actually went to a presentation by one of the big mlm essential oil companies, because they were going to present recipe for using EOs in a natural sunscreen (later research told me that EOs don't have sun prevention qualities.) The bad news is that the presentation was appalling (safety and lack of ingredient knowledge), the good news was it made me do research and take two online courses from a reputable online aromatherapy institute. One of which was a Butters & Balms course. Make a lot of my own skin products now. I had previously ought all of the ingredients to make my own sunscreen, but then decided to buy some to see how it worked for me. It did. Got one on Etsy. It was fine. There were some times during the summer that my skin was so awful that nothing wouldn't have upset it. It's a firmer consistency, I used it MANY times and barely made a dent in the jar. Bought a natural sunscreen lotion on Amazon, it had an SPF of 32. Because it contained so much of the zinc oxide, it made my face chalk white. The Tropical Sands Sunscreen only has an SPF of 8, so no white face.
The Tropical Sands All Natural Sunscreen is a lotion consistency. I'm not ready to make my own products with a water base because they need a preservative system. Lotion is easier to apply and make sure you cover the body parts completely. Probably a better consistency for sunscreen. The bottle is 8oz. It recommends application every 40 minutes if swimming or sweating. Even with the frequent application, it should still last a while. It's also the most reasonable price of all the ones I've tried.
Many sunscreens that contain non nano zinc oxide or titanium dioxide call themselves "nearly natural." Did some research because I thought they were chemicals, they are minerals. They provide a physical block rather then a chemical block. The biggest problem with the products that contain mineral blocks is that they make your face white--the more minerals, the whiter your face gets. Before the rosacea, I was light skinned, but not that porcelain white. It's December and while the weather is warmer then normal, it's not suntan weather, so my face doesn't have any other color. The Tropical Sands was fine, didn't change my skin color.
As with any new product on my face, I did a sample application. Put a little on the side where my hair would cover a reaction. It didn't make my skin reactive negatively, so I tried it on my nose and cheeks (most reactive part of my face.) I didn't have a negative reaction there. I'll definitely have to experiment with it during the prime sun time because there are times I have to be out in the sun.
I received this product at a discount for an honest review.