Dr. Mercola is a naturalopathic doctor who has a huge website online. I subscribe to his newsletters, and I think, although I don’t necessarily agree with everything he says 100% of the time, he has some very valid points and also happens to have some excellent products that I’ve tried that are all natural.
I decided to try his natural sunscreen, an SPF 30, because I started reading the labels on store bought sunscreens with traditional labels like Coppertone, Banana Boat and other popular brands, and saw a bevy of preservatives that are known toxins to the skin and body, and other chemical names that I didn’t even recognize.
I started to think, in my quest to be healthier by shield my skin to damage UV rays, I might actually be doing more harm than good by slathering on chemicals that inevitably leach into your blood stream. So, I bought two of his natural sun products actually. One, I bought the Mercola natural sunscreen, and two I bought the Natural Tanning oil. Both come with green tea, which I like, because green tea is a great antioxidant, and is good for the skin both internally and externally, helping to reverse and stave off free radical damage.
Both products are eco friendly and biodegradable, which is a good sign that they are also non toxic to apply to human skin. I bought the tanning oil too, because I do occasionally like to enjoy short bouts in the sun without mega sunscreen, so I can ensure I get my daily dose of vitamin D, which is proving to be ever more important in the grand scheme of things. I love the tanning oil. It has a ton of good for your skin ingredients.
You MUST shake it well before every use, to make sure the extract and oils all mix together so you get maximum benefit. It’s made of sunflower oil, green tea extract, coconut oil, which is a great skin protector, almost oil, lanolin, vitamin E, eucalyptus oil, and vitamin C. No unrecognizable chemical names – nice huh!? I have never gotten burned using this oil, and it feels great going on. I feel like it’s also protecting my skin, and I’m not putting any toxic chemicals on, so I feel safe leaving it on all day after the sun too.
The Mercola sunscreen is great too. This one you must shake well before each use also. It also contains green tea extract. In addition to almost the same ingredients as the tanning oil, it contains only the natural sunscreens in it of zinc oxide, a natural compound, and titanium dioxide, another naturally occurring compound. No parabens or other potentially cancer linked chemicals – and it works great.
You do have to reapply after going in the water, but it’s totally non toxic and you don’t feel like it’s plugging every pore when you put it on.Even the smell isn’t all “chemically” like you’re used to smelling when you open a bottle of traditional sunscreen. I’m sold!
