Homemade Sunscreen

I'm very fair skinned and burn very easily so I was thinking about what I would do in the summer if I didn't have access to store bought sunscreen. Apparently you can use Zinc Oxide along with things like coconut oil or eucalyptus oil as a natural sunscreen. I'm not sure where you could get Zinc Oxide from though. Are there any other natural sunblocks?

 

It's probably not always possible to stay out of the sun, especially if it was world where everyone was living ''outside''. Also I literally only need to be in sunlight for about 20 minutes without suncreen to burn.

 

What a great idea, I never thought about making my own sunscreen! You can actually buy zinc oxide powder on Ebay. 99.9% pure. 3 oz. $6.99. I will definately be researching this. I like to make as much of my own stuff as possible. I had just never considered sunscreen.

 

I would totally use coconut oil and other essential oils on my skin, but zinc oxide?

Why do you need it in the cream? Would you care to explain it more?

 

Zinc oxide is the active ingredient in sunscreens, it has properties that block UV rays. I don't know the exact science of it, here's a link:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zinc_oxide#UV_absorber

 

That sounds like a nightmare, do you get any special cream for it? I try to stay in the shade as much as I can because even if my skin is protected the heat makes me sick anyway, I'm too pale!

 

I HATE itching. I'm pretty much allergic to all kinds of stuff and temperature changes make my skin itch, there is nothing I can do about it except wrap up until it stops, it's the worst! I take anti histamines regularly and that helps a bit but I guess it's a different cause for you so that wouldn't help.

 

Coconut oil is the good stuff. Not only would this be good sun screen but it will make your skin soft and radiant. You can also use this in your hair it works miracles on all types of hair. I don't know if this will work in survival situations, but I know you can't go wrong with this for sunscreen.

 

I thought coconut oil was a moisturizer and made skin tan rather than burn. That isn't the same as being a sunscreen.

 

I saw a cocktail for this floating around a social media page recently. I don't know that I would use an oil based substance in something that I am using to protect skin, but I guess that's where the zinc oxide comes into place. Honestly, with the cost of the ingredients that you would need for this homemade sunscreen, you could have bough multiple bottles of SPF45. I burn real easily as well so I have to be covered most of the time. I just try to avoid the sun at all costs.

 

I think the coconut oil is a good moisturiser but it wouldn't block the UV rays, that's what the zinc oxide does.

Also from what I've seen you can get a pot of zinc oxide fairly cheap and you only need to use a little bit of it to make the suncreen so I think overall it would end up being cheaper than buying the bottles of sunblock. I don't know about where you are but sunscreen has become really expensive over here!

 

I'm sure there are some natural creams out there that you can use to protect you against the sun. Personally, since I don't have that problem, I would say the best thing for you is, like Ionewolf said, to stay out the sun and try to not get burnt yourself. What you said about coconut oil and Zinc Oxide is a good solution, and you could try it out.It's very hard to make sunscreen, and that's why other people make it. Also I think if you go underwater, you won't get as much sunburns, and it also can fresh you up.

 

I read about home made sunscreens a while back and they did recommend a mix of coconut oil, shea butter, jojoba oil, Vitamin E oil, a couple of drops of essential oils (like lavender) and a bit of Zinc Oxide powder. It is very important to get good quality powder because the particles are so small they can get absorbed by the skin (which is not a good thing). I think it is important to keep an open mind and not only rely on sunscreen. Make sure you are always covered up from the sun, wear a large brimmed hat an seek shade when the sun is to warm.

 

Lisa, there'd be a way to make it from scratch for sure. The general rule is there's nothing you can buy that you can't make yourself. Saving that, I agree with Lonewolf, as our ancestors did it, physically cover yourself from the sun in the best way that you possibly can (wide brim hat, covering up with clothing), work at sensible times of the day, and just generally stay out of the sun.
I wouldn't be too worried about simple sunburn. The last thing anyone wants after the SHTF moment is to get a Melanoma or some other type of skin cancer without having access to treatment. Beware, this may well be a death sentence.

God bless my olive complexion.

 

I've had sunburn so bad before that my shoulders were burnt down deep under the skin, it's not only really painful but I was so ill from it, vomiting for days and became really dehydrated. Obviously it's best to cover up as much as possible but I'd still like to have some kind of sunblock on me anyway.