BLOG | THE LOBSTERS VS. THE WARMONGERS

In my family, as we don't get away much because I run my own business, the presence of the sun is highlighted by the letter from primary school that we should now be slathering our kids in sunscreen before they come to school, and supplying them with ample cream to get them through the day.

Most parents seem happy to provide the standard mainstream offerings for this class of skin care for their kids. The 'all-out war' approach appears to be the more sensible of the two mentioned above, and certainly the one the school supports - by putting the onus of responsibility on the parents to manage their kid's skin care whilst they are away at school is indeed a protective, and arguably wise, move.

However, if I'm expected to be plastering stuff all over my kids' largest organ on their bodies - their skin (which we all know is magnificently porous) - then I want to know what's in it, and will it do them any harm?

My mission in 2014 was to find an entirely natural alternative to commercial sunscreen which is effective and safe. After studying a variety of well-known 'natural' brands, I still couldn't pronounce some of the ingredients which for me is an automatic put-off. An avid label reader since my early twenties, I have learnt that just because it says natural, doesn't mean it is. I wanted something I could read, understand and trust.

But don't we really need sun?

It's well-acknowledged that we require a certain amount of sun exposure in order to manufacture our essential vitamin D stores. Or is it? Something the vast number of the population are unbelievably deficient in, which is linked to higher cancer rates and other diseases (not to mention the C word), is not being shouted about in the mainstream. Why? My theory is that if were all to learn just how important our Vitamin D levels were to our overall health, we'd all be demanding tests from our doctor at the expense of the already stretched NHS, and we'd be able to manage our own health freely and cheaply, which is not what Big Pharma would like us to do.

When the vast majority of the population rely on mainstream media to keep them up-to-date with scientific breakthroughs, is it any wonder we're being literally kept in the dark? So why the soaring skin cancer rates? Since the introduction of sunscreens the incidence of skin cancer has grown exponentially. Why? Well, perhaps it's a combination of more people feeling they can confidently expose themselves to the sun because they've plastered themselves in this new magic cream that will protect them, together with the fact that these sunscreens are themselves laden with toxic carcinogenic or hormone-disrupting chemicals.

This great article by The Environmental Working Group sums this up: The trouble with ingredients in sunscreens

Damned if you do, damned if you don't?

It would appear so, wouldn't it? Well, actually, no. It is actually possible to strike a healthy balance between getting enough sun exposure to satisfy your body's need to make Vitamin D, and not exposing your skin to damaging UV rays. People are wising-up and ethical and natural companies have taken it upon themselves to research ingredients to find natural, harmless and even health-promoting ingredients to make the time that you do have to spend in the sun safe all-round.

It's all about balance

The balance therefore is moderation, as with all things: spend time in the sun when the sun's at its least strong, i.e. not between the hours of 11am and 3pm, to give your skin the chance to synthesise its essential stores of vitamin D, and if you do have to spend an inordinate amount of time in the sun, use light protective clothing and a natural sunscreen like Shade™ All-Natural Sunscreen, which has only four carefully selected ingredients to offer you the broadest range of sun protection, whilst at the same time conditioning and moisturising your skin and most importantly NOT dosing you or your kids up with dangerous chemicals.

This cream is so simple you could make it yourself, but as I discovered, to get top quality ingredients at a cost-effective price you have to buy them in bulk - otherwise you end up either paying the Earth for a small amount of safe natural sunscreen, or you have a tonne of excess ingredients that there is no way you will use in a year (before they go out of date!), especially if you live in the UK where our sunshine quota is at best unpredictable and at worst...what's that hot shiny yellow globe called again?

So who wins?

I like to think that with Shade™, I have found a truce for the battle between the Lobsters and the Warmongers. Something that allows sun-seekers to safely get the sun they crave, but that also helps to eliminate the fear from the those who believe the sun's very emergence from behind those clouds is a major threat to their health.

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