Liz Earle Mineral Sun Cream SPF 20

Liz Earle Mineral Sun Cream SPF20 has saved my skin from the scorching sun on my last 3 holiday (well except for in Tenerife where there was so sun in April but you can still get burnt on a cloudy/rainy day!) My favorite part is the sun cream's usabilty. It's tan in color rather than white so it doesn't look chalky on the skin. And I think I've mastered the best application technique. First smear on a glob. After a few strokes to get it spread around the surface area, then pat the remainder into the skin. Your skin will feel a bit tacky but you won't have any more obvious splotches. This helps to keep the minerals on top of the skin where they can reflect the sun. Unlike chemical sunscreens which work from inside out and take lots of chemicals into the skin with them!

Ingredient list:

Caprylic/capric triglyceride, citrus aurantium amara (orange) flower water, zinc oxide, titanium dioxide, aqua, glycerin, polyhydroxstearic acid, vitellaria paradoxa (shea butter), cetearyl alcohol, cetearyl glucoside, lactic acid, tocopherol (vitamin E), panthenol, punica granatum (pomegranate) seed extract, camellia sinesis (green tea) leaf extract, sorbitan olivate, sorbitan palmitate, p-anisic acid, phenoxyethanol, glyceryl caprylate, sodium lactate, alumina, aluminum stearate, xanthan gum, isostearic acid, methylisothiazolinone, benzoic acid, dehydroacetic acid, ethylhexlglycerin, polyaminopropyl biguanide.

Most of the ingredients are pretty benign although I couldn’t find information on polyhydroxstearic acid or ethylhexlglycerin.  I raised my eyebrows at the alum derivatives (alumina = 5 on EWG cosmetics database and aluminum stearate = 4-5).  These are the types of chemicals we’re trying to avoid in deodorants.  However, I hope in future if they reformulate this product that they ditch the methylisothiazolinone (=6 on EWG cosmetics database and is a widely used preservative associated with allergic reactions.  Further more it may be neurotoxic (based on research done on mammal brain cells.)

Anyways, apart from the formulation I did really like the product.  Check out the 2011 sunscreen guide by the EWG.  Let me know what your favorite mineral sun screen is!

This is what happens if you DON'T wear sun cream! doh!