In my quest for baby sunscreens, I had a head-start knowing that I wanted to use natural sunscreen on Declan. I wanted to use natural sunscreen because a.) I don’t like using anything with ingredients I can’t pronounce (aka. chemicals) for Declan (food, toiletries, etc.), and b.) Declan has very sensitive skin, and I didn’t want a chemical-laden lotion to irritate his skin.
I asked for natural sunscreen suggestions in a green forum I belong to, and was pleasantly surprised by the number of recommendations. One recommendation was a name I had been seeing in my cloth-diapering circles, and that all-natural sunscreen is BALM! Baby SUN! by Taylor House Skin (THinc.).
Based in Hawaii, BALM! Baby is handmade in small batches locally, using local natural and organic ingredients. One of the things I love about this natural sunscreen is that the ingredient list is short and I know what everything is on it:
- Olive oil infused in calendula
- Chamomile & comfrey
- non-nano zinc oxide (25%)
- sesame seed oil
- candelilla wax
- Hawaiian coconut & macademia nut oil
- shea butter,
- vitamin eT-50
- Sun safe essential oil blend
My first impression of BALM! Baby SUN! was the smell — I love the fragrance! It’s not your typical coconutty/sunscreen smell, rather, a fresh, invigorating scent that is the calendula, I believe (if you’ve used California Baby’s Calendula Cream, it smells just like that). The texture is creamy and goes on smoothly. The one downside of this product, if there really is one, is that it is a little oily when you first apply it (naturally, as oils are the majority of ingredients) BUT, this makes this sunscreen waterproof and last up to 2 hours. Also, D’s skin was moisturized after using this product, even after being in the water for a few hours.
On the left, you can see D w/ the BALM! Baby SUN! on, and his hair is a little greasy, but the oils worked themselves in after a couple of hours. Best part? He was protected by the sun by this amazing natural sunscreen…and I felt great about putting this on his skin!
I’ll admit, I’m a little nervous anytime I put a new sunscreen on Declan to try, and take him out into the sun — I just don’t want him to suffer a painful burn. I’m no expert, but I love this product. Simply put, it works. It works, and you can feel confident about putting this on your little one’s sensitive skin. The experts think so too! This year, BALM! Baby was named to the Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) Best Beach & Sport Sunscreens list!
Suffice to say, BALM! Baby has become a staple in our house. And you know what else? BALM! Baby can be used as a diaper rash cream (remember that 25% zinc?), so it truly is a multipurpose product! If you’re looking for a company with great customer service, BALM! Baby is one of them. They are active on social media as well, and you can ‘Like’ them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.
Wow ~ it almost sounds too good to be true! I wish they made it in a larger size jar. I would get some for myself. I have Lupus and it’s doubly important that I use sunscreen. I’d love to use one that is natural.
Thanks for stopping by, Robin! You may also want to look into Burt’s Bees sunscreen or Badger Balm — both natural alternatives to chemically-laced sunscreens.