Procrastination, people.
Procrastination is what does THIS.
One minute you’re innocently sunning at the pool, and the next—BAM! You’re next to a lobster that kind of resembles your boyfriend.
All because you procrastinated making the sunscreen.
(And also because he didn’t warn you how fair he was and *technically* also because he didn’t wear a shirt at the pool.)
Regardless.
Too little, too late my friends.
So that is why you should make your 3-step, 4 ingredient, better-than-store-bought, waterproof sunblock RIGHT NOW! Before all you can do is tenderly rub aloe vera into your loved-one’s skin…
And I’m not lying when I say this is better than store-bought. It’s the same consistency, same color (easier transition for reluctant family members), did I mention waterproof?, and you can even add essential oils to make it smell nice? Not to mention it’s also good for wrinkles (anti-aging) and toning the skin?
Not bad. Not bad.
Oh, and it’s ridiculously fast, easy, and inexpensive to make.
Homemade Waterproof Sunscreen: Ingredients
(This makes 2 cups of sunblock. Cut the recipe in half to make a smaller batch.)
You will need:
A double boiler OR there are alternatives if you don’t have one (buy here)
A food processor (buy here)
1 cup coconut oil (buy here)
4 TBSP beeswax (buy here)
1 cup herbal tea (buy here) *Note: Depending on what tea you use, it may affect the color of the resulting sunscreen.
2 oz. by weight of non-nano zinc oxide (buy here)
20 drops carrot seed oil, opt. (buy here)
20 drops lavender essential oil, opt. (buy here)
10 drops myrrh essential oil, opt. (buy here)
Squeeze tubes (buy here)
Homemade Waterproof Sunscreen: Instructions
I use my double boiler to melt oils, butters, and wax for cosmetics, but if you don’t have a double boiler, you can use a pan with another pan on top OR a pan with a metal bowl on top OR a pan with a glass bowl on top.
So using your double boiler, melt the coconut oil and beeswax together. You should also steep your tea during this time. You can use regular warm water if you want, but I prefer tea. Anyway, when the oil and beeswax is melted, pour it into your food processor and turn it on.
Then SLOWWWWLLLYYY add the warm tea to the mixture and continue to blend for 60 seconds or until it begins to look emulsified.
Stop the food processor and scrap down the sides. Some of the beeswax may be clumped together. That’s okay. We’re just going to blend it again. Keep scrapping and blending until the entire mixture is smooth.
Next, add the zinc oxide and essential oils. I have a food scale, so I was able to measure the zinc oxide by weight. If you don’t have a scale, my best estimate was 1/3 cup of zinc oxide. Sorry that it’s not more specific. Blend the zinc oxide until smooth. Voila! Done!
If you want, you can buy these cute little squeezy tubes and put your sunblock in them to carry to the pool or the beach. :)
Also, the essential oils aren’t necessary if you don’t have them, but they have their own naturally occurring SPF values that are beneficial. See photo below.
My daughter is extremely allergic to coconut. What can I use as a replacement?
Is it the essential oil carrot / raspberry or the carrier oil ? I’ve heard it both ways than I’ve read that the carrier oil is the one with spf?
Why do you use tea?
Because I could use just plain water, but I like the healing/soothing benefits of some herbs, so why not add them?
What kind if tea do you use? Your link takes me to something about culinary salts.
So sorry. I’ve fixed the link. I use teas from Mountain Rose Herbs. Any herbal tea you like. It’s your preference. http://www.revivedkitchen.com/mountainrose
I just wanted to leave my feedback, because that is what I read before making these types diy products, and I think with sunscreen it is fairly important. Firstly, I made the product and it really looked the part – it looked and applied like comercial sunscreens – and felt it felt so good to knowing what was in it . I cut back on the essential oils (only 6 drops of each) because I don’t like strong fragrances, and also because Carrot Seed oils has one of the nastiest smells I’ve come accross in EO’s (why isn’t this ever mentioned in peoples blogs?). I also cut back on the Carrot Seed Oild because the reading I’ve done about CSO and its SPF seem to conclude that the claimed SPF factor is based upon one rather dubious study (so I didn’t feel the need to add that smell unnecessarily).
But back to how I found it actually worked. The day I made this I headed to the beach with my husband and two kids. I sat in the speckled shade of a tree while hubby and kiddos played in the water for a few hours. On arriving home, I realised I was actually quite sunburnt, but couldn’t actually remember if I had applied any sunscreen to myself. My husband did not apply any to himself, and was rather sizzled. But my kids who I had applied the sunscreen thoroughly came out looking normal – no sunburn. I was thrilled.
A few days later we spent the day as a family at Seaworld here in Australia. The sun was pretty harsh and we had forgotten hats. We all lathered ourselves with our homemade sunscreen, and continued to regularly throughout the day. At this point I should mention that my husband and children are the type that generally don’t get sunburnt very easily, and if they do they look nicely tanned the next day. I am similar but do tend to burn more easily, and look pink for longer. As I waited in line for a ride with my kids I noticed that from a distance my waiting hubby was looking pretty toasted (but admittedly he had not been reapplying). My kids were looking ok and while I was feeling hot I didn’t feel sunburnt. When I got home that night, I looked in the mirror at my back and shoulders (as they were the most exposed to the sun during the day), it was hard to tell because our lighting isn’t amazing but they looked pretty pink. Today my skin is feeling tight, hot and is looking decidedly sizzled, as is my face. My less burn prone kids are looking far less sizzled than me, but do have pink in places, and my younger daughter is complaining about feeling ‘sunburnt’ – which is almost unheard of for her.
I do love this recipe, but would recommend it be used with caution. I would like to try make it again soon with a much higher zinc oxide content, as I’m not convinced the amount recommended above was enough for our harsh climate. And once I do that I will happily share our findings – I desperately want this recipe to work out for us :-)
I really love this, and am excited to try it this summer. Looks like it’s been a bit since you’ve replied to posts, so hopefully you’ll see this and reply :)
I have a couple of questions…
I was considering a sunscreen bar recipe found from wellness mama, but it has to be kept at 80 degrees or below. The 3-day vacation I usually take involves floating in a river, for 3 days – and its usually about 95 – 100 degrees. I could keep the sunscreen bars in my cooler, but if this recipe can handle the heat that is even better.
Do you know at what temp it might start to melt? Should it also be kept in a cooler?
One post said this might spoil due to not having a preservative in it. In your experience does this spoil? What would one expect to see from a ‘spoiled’ batch? Mold?
Lastly, is it the warm tea that keeps it at a lotion consistency instead of solid?
Thanks for taking the time!
Hi! I just put these in my waterproof squeeze tubes and take it with me everywhere. I just toss the tube in a bag and go! It doesn’t melt. It’s the consistency of a lotion…or maybe just a little thicker than a regular sunscreen. Even though it’s water-based, mine has never spoiled, and I’ve kept it at room temp for several months at a time. Just follow the recipe, throw it in a tube, and treat it like normal sunscreen. :) The only thing I notice *sometimes* is that the water will separate out of it a little and I have to shake it to combine again, but it’s minimal.