DIY Sunscreen Recipe with Zinc Oxide: Protect Your Skin Naturally

Using homemade sunscreen recipe with zinc oxide is a natural way to protect your skin from the harmful UV rays of the sun without harmful chemicals. This DIY recipe is easy to make and safe to use on kids.

With Summer right around the corner, it’s time to whip up a batch of sunscreen to have on hand!

Get set with some homemade bug spray too!

I’m not someone who puts sunscreen on every time my kids head outside, but with gardening and spending hours on end in the pool, we do go through a good amount of it!

While protecting my family from harmful UV rays is important, I don’t want to have to apply potentially dangerous chemicals that are found in conventional sunscreen to our skin in the process.

Making my own natural sunscreen, I know what I’m rubbing on my kids’ arms and faces is completely safe and non toxic.

Sound like too much trouble to make it yourself? It really isn’t at all!

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Why you’ll like making This sunscreen Recipe with zinc oxide

all natural

Most commercial sunscreens contain 6 potentially harmful ingredients that can cause hormone disruption:

• Oxybenzone
• Avobenzone
• Homosalate
• Octinoxate
• Octocrylene
• Octisalate

These chemicals are all absorbed into the body after just one use. Studies found traces of these harmful ingredients in the breast milk and urine of sunscreen users!

While you can find safe sunscreens on the market, they aren’t exactly budget friendly and it’s really easy to whip up your own!

This homemade sunscreen recipe is made with completely natural ingredients: coconut oil, beeswax, shea butter, zinc oxide, raspberry seed oil and carrot seed oil.

easy to make

Homemade sunscreen is easy to make in only a few steps and about 15 minutes. First melt the ingredients and then whip them in your mixer. That’s it!

not greasy

One of the things I can’t stand about store-bought sunscreen is how greasy it leaves your skin feeling. The beeswax in this recipe helps keep it non-greasy by thickening the sunscreen leaving it less oily.

really works!

All of the ingredients in this sunscreen adds to the overall sun protective factor (SPF).

• coconut oil – SPF of 4-5
• shea butter – SPF of 3-4
• zinc oxide – SPF of 40
• raspberry seed oil – SPF of 28-50
• carrot seed oil – SPF of 38-40

What You Need to make This sunscreen Recipe with zinc oxide:

ingredients:

• coconut oil – coconut oil is naturally moisturizing, high in antioxidants and has an SPF of 4-5.
• shea butter – while shea butter by itself isn’t a replacement for sunscreen (about this myth) it does have natural sun protective properties. Shea butter has an SPF of 3-4.
• beeswax – beeswax gives this sunscreen a spreadable consistency and keeps it from leaving your skin feeling greasy after applying it.
• zinc oxide powder – zinc oxide is an extremely effective natural sun protectant since repels UV radiation and keeps the sun’s rays from damaging your skin. Since zinc oxide makes up 20% of this recipe, it adds a SPF of 40. It’s important to use non-nano zinc since it has larger particles that won’t be able to absorb into your blood stream.
• raspberry seed oil – aside from being high in antioxidants and loaded with vitamin E, raspberry seed oil has an SPF of between 28 and 50 for UVA rays and up to SPF 8 for UVB rays!
• carrot seed oil – carrot seed oil is high in vitamin A and has awesome antiseptic properties. It’s natural SPF can’t be beat at 38-40.

How to make homemade sunscreen with zinc oxide:

Melt – Using a double boiler or a glass bowl on top of a pot with a few inches of water in it, heat the coconut oil, shea butter and beeswax over medium low heat until there are no solid bits left.

Whip – Using a stand mixer or electric beaters, whip the oils mixture on high. Slowly and gradually add in the water. It’s very important to drip it in just a little at a time to make sure the oils and water don’t separate after they’re mixed together.

Add in the Remaining Ingredients – When all of the water has been added and the mixture turns bright white, add the zinc oxide and oils. Whip to combine.

tips for success:

To Use – Apply homemade sunscreen before heading outside for extended periods of time. Reapply every two hours.

To Store – Homemade sunscreen will last a very long time when stored in a cool place out of direct sunlight. Keep any water from getting into the bottle because water will make it spoil much more quickly.

Variations – This recipe can be stored in a small glass jar if you prefer.

Substitutions – Mango butter or cocoa butter can be used in place of the shea butter in this recipe.

FAQ about this DIY sunscreen recipe:

how much zinc oxide for homemade sunscreen?

The FDA recommends to use a concentration of around 20% to 25% zinc oxide for effective sun protection.

what ratio of zinc oxide for SPF?

Using a sunscreen made with 20% zinc oxide will give it an SPF of 20.

Using coconut oil, shea butter, carrot seed oil and raspberry seed oil in this recipe adds to the SPF value.

what is the best amount of zinc oxide in sunscreen?

The FDA recommends using a concentration of 20%-25% zinc oxide in natural sunscreens for optimum protection against the sun’s UVA and UVB rays.

What is SPF, and how does it work?

SPF stands for “Sun Protection Factor.” It is a measure of how effectively a sunscreen protects the skin from harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation, specifically UVB rays. SPF shows the level of protection against sunburn caused by UVB rays.

The SPF value represents the amount of time it takes for skin to redden when using a particular sunscreen compared to the time it takes without any sunscreen.

is sunscreen toxic?

There are many health risks associated with a number of the chemicals used in conventional sunscreens.

The European Commission states that two of these active ingredients are not safe in the amounts they are used in sunscreen oxybenzone and homosalate. Legally, though, sunscreen manufacturers are allowed to exceed the safe levels of these two toxic chemicals.

nano-zinc vs non nano zinc

Non-nano zinc oxide is considered safer to use in skincare products because it’s particles are larger than the those of nano zinc oxide. The smaller particles of nano zinc oxide can absorb into the blood stream or lungs.

is homemade sunscreen safe to use?

Considering the risky toxic chemicals used in most store-bought sunscreens, making your own homemade sunscreen is a good idea since it can be made using non toxic ingredients that are effective at providing natural protection from UV rays.

Zinc oxide, which has an SPF of 40, is the most commonly used active ingredient in natural sunscreens.

is this homemade sunscreen waterproof?

Yes! This recipe calls for shea butter and beeswax which both provide a light waterproof coating for the skin.

More DIY Ideas For Summertime:

If you liked this post, I think you’ll really enjoy these other homemade ideas for Summer on the blog!

• Healthy Fudesicles
• DIY Bubble Solution
• Homemade Anti-Itch Cream
• DIY Essential Oil Insect Repellent
• Fruit and Yogurt Swirl Popsicles

I hope you enjoyed making your own DIY sunscreen! If you make it, I’d love for you to come back and leave a comment and rating so that I know how you like it!