When I woke up this morning at 7am, the thermostat was already nudging 22degrees celsius (71.6 fahrenheit) and it was forecast to hit 27 (in the end it peaked at a glorious 30 – 80 fahrenheit). So took the advice of the sun gods, packed the kids in the car and took the littlies to the beach. We had a lovely girl bonding day …
Strolled along the ocean boardwalk
Splashed in the water and dug in the sand
& Watched the surfers before returning home
And of course given the harsh sun we have in Australia, every 2hrs I smothered myself and the littlies in 30+ factor sunscreen. And thankfully no one got burnt.
However, the baby is now is covered in a tiny rash – I think heat rash but it did occur to me perhaps she might be sensitive to the sunscreen. After all chemical sunscreens have a plethora of chemicals all designed to repel UV rays and there have been concerns raised about the potential side effects. There are “organic” sunscreen alternatives but then they also present a conundrum – am I potentially subjecting my children’s skin to sun damage in the pursuit of “natural” which could be infinitely worse than exposure to the chemicals. Given my skins propensity to burn and the liklihood that my eldest daughter will inherit my skin (thankfully my youngest has olive skin so hopefully not as susceptible) I feel a little reticent about switching but I will give them a go on myself and see the results.
Following are some brands available. I’m not sure which one I’ll take the plunge with as yet but will update when I do so.
Co-incidentally yesterday an article came out yesterday stating that broccoli juice may be the way of the future as it contains sulforaphane, an antioxidant, which helps stop sunburn and tumour development. Guess that gives new meaning to “going green”. (sorry poor joke!)
Have you tried natural sunscreens? If so, which ones and do you have any recommendations?
