Chemical or Mineral?

Family, Education, Health and Pets
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Since my last skin testing and being that I ride around on a bike, i looked into sun screens.

I wanted a good mineral one that was cruelty free.

I have to confess I didnt look in the swiss shops I went to iherb. The only place I noticed where you could try sun screens was in the local alnatura migros.

In order of preference

I bought this Devita one. I like the brand in general, like acure so far no! bad skin reaction.

- It does leave a slight white cast (dont wear dark clothing or you will see it rubs off )

- Only 30 spf, is that a minus?

- UVA/B not clear

+ It has almost nothing bad in it.

+ it gives me no! reaction on my skin or face.

+ quite cheap 10chf/100ml

If not Devita then

Badger Company, Active Kids, Zinc Oxide Sunscreen Cream, SPF 30, Tangerine & Vanilla

-?

+ broad spectrum (UVA & UVB)

+ no! junk in it

+ ok price 16chf/100ml

for the face

COOLA Organic Suncare Collection, Mineral Face, Mineral Sunscreen, SPF 30, Matte Tint, Unscented

- a bit pricey! - 75fr/100ml

+ good reviews

2nd choice face

Badger Company, Tinted Zinc Oxide Sunscreen Cream, Broad Spectrum SPF 30

+ nothing bad in it

+ not terribly expensive 16chf/100ml

Here are some links on sunscreen

ef link (a bit of waffle with little practical advice)

safemama (very comprehensive)

so what do you do here in switzerland?

Do you have a favourite brand that can be bought here?

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the poll is closed

anyway, I vote "The dogs of Yulin dont care, they just dont want to be tortured to death and eaten."

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Mineral. All the way.

We like Green People's sunscreen best, as neither I nor my son has had an allergic reaction to it. But they use nanoparticles, so this year we're trying something else.

I've been using EQ Evoa (ordered from a French website), no reaction so far and no sunburns, but it's more greasy than Green People. No white cast. ECOCERT.

The men are testing Alga Maris, another ECOCERT sunscreen and they like it. No white cast, but I find it too oily for the face and the smell of coconut is unsettling; the beach vibe kind of clashes with the hiking gear.

We used Lavera this winter for skiin, way to whiteish and heavy for my taste. Will not buy again.

Have been buying from mondebio.com, they have a lot to chose from and the delivery is fast enough.

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I thought i'd take the easy route and dropped by the large coop in Zug.

I asked a lady in my best German if there were any natural , mineral sunscreans.

It turns out they only have one brand ' lavera ' (mentioned by trollemor) with two options, spray and cream. these two (plus 2 self-tanners) are on aisle with about 6 shelves of sun protection!

It has one ingredient that always makes me uncomfortable, Benzyl Benzoate, it also has aluminum! what is that for?

Helianthus Annuus Hybrid Oil*, Titanium Dioxide, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Dodecane,Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil*, Helianthus Annuus Seed Oil, Dextrin Palmitate, Aqua, Glycine Soja Oil*, Mangifera Indica Fruit Extract*, Capsicum Annuum Extract, Beta-Carotene, Stearic Acid, Alumina, Tocopheryl Acetate, Lecithin, Alcohol*, Tocopherol, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Parfum**, Limonene**, Linalool**, Geraniol**, Citronellol**, Citral**, Coumarin**, Eugenol**, Benzyl Benzoate**, Benzyl Alcohol**

price: if my memory serves me correctly it was about 14chf so about 11chf / 100ml

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Er - a mineral is a chemical

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Why not go to Body Shop, they have natural tested products. That was always their big strength.

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Could she explain the 'natural' origins of all of these?

Quite. Unless you inhabit the same universe where untested herbal extracts are going to be better than pharmaceuticals because they're not 'drugs'.

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Firstly it has alumina in it - which is aluminium oxide. Wikipedia mentions one of its major uses being a filler in cosmetics. So you might want to check your blusher, lipstick and nail polish. Used daily it is the 3rd biggest cause of cancer in women*

Secondly Benzyl Benzoate meanwhile is an organic compound which is found in hyacinth blossom and is present in Balsam of Peru - and it used to fragrance cosmetics. Used daily it is the 5th biggest cause of cancer in women**

* I made that last fact up

** I made the second fact up too - but chances are you have now read it on the internet so believe it anyway.

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The Big Bang; after that, it's just random collisions. (stellar nucleosynthesis, creation of simple, then more complex molecules, RNA, DNA, life...)

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What I want to know is how they get oil out of a sunflower's bum.

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One of the products we stock up in Germany as the Swiss mark-ups are just not acceptable:

DM Markt: https://www.dm.de/garnier-sonnenspra...540276643.html

Coop: https://www.dm.de/garnier-sonnenspra...540276643.html

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My priority is how effective the product is. In the UK, I'd always buy Lacura from Aldi as they consistently score well on sun cream tests.

http://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/wellbein...rst-sun-creams

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-st...s-9380267.html

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do we really want to know where that oil comes from?

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There's an article about sun creams in this week's Ktipp.

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not where, but HOW! (not to mention why)

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Another is as an abrasive, particularly good for making sandpaper!

Tom

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This one gives little warnings on the chemical ingredients.

SONNENCREME TEST 2016

[](https://www.englishforum.ch/attachments/family-matters-health/115373d1466168619-chemical-mineral-screen-shot-2016-06-17-15.03.08.png)

I added the safemama link in the original post, because it gives some reasoning behind using the mineral.

If you are familiar with ewg.org , the org who have the cosmetics database, they have a

ewg 2016 sun cream suggestions, its quite large with lots of options .

This is their

best scoring for kids

worst scoring for kids

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Remember to check your deodorant, aluminum salts are the default sweat stopper.

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