Homemade Sunscreen Lotion Bars

I have seen a few recipes for sunscreen bars or lotion bars and have been curious to try to make these my own.

I have been very happy with these homemade sunscreen bars and am amazed at how smooth and creamy they are when applied.  I was thinking they would be more chalky but that was not the case.  These feel luxurious and moisturizing on the skin.  My daughter loves using these.  They are cute and easy for her to apply.

There is a lot of controversy surrounding many commercial sunscreens which contain toxic ingredients.  There is concern that some of these ingredients could be harming our health and possibly causing the very cancer we are trying to prevent.  The FDA is currently investigating the dangers of using aerosol sunscreens, the kind that so many parents (myself included) have used because they are so darn convenient on squirmy kids at the pool!

I try my best to choose non toxic products when I can and have found a few commercial ‘natural' sunscreens that I really like a lot.  I will be the first to admit that I also use ‘toxic' or ‘common' sunscreens on occasion, especially when we are on a beach vacation or I am with friends and don't have my own products.  I have not 100% committed to natural beauty and skin products yet.  Just haven't ‘gone there' on my journey 🙂

I am not a huge DIY person when it comes to beauty products, so I usually purchase my products.  My favorite this summer has been this organic sunscreen, which comes in sprays, creams and lotions and isn't super chalky and white (like most natural sunscreen products).  But I decided to give these a try as they seemed easy to make and kind of fun to have on hand!

We have been in the sun quite a bit this summer and have used our store bought sunscreens and these homemade sunscreen bars.  No one has gotten burned yet!  Success!!

I was inspired to make these homemade sunscreen bars by numerous bloggers and magazine articles around the internet (Homemade Mommy, Wellness Mama, and Mommypotamus are the 3 that come to mind.)

I took my own spin on these homemade sunscreen bars and used ingredients that have natural spf properties: Coconut Oil , Shea Butter (spf up to 6) and Zinc Oxide. I also like to add lavender essential oil which is soothing to the skin and smells great! But you can scent these with whatever essential oils you like!

I find with the beeswax these bars are water-resistant but of course you should always reapply after being in the water!

You could also remove the zinc oxide and use these just as a lotion bar to moisturize your skin.  Would make a cute gift!!!

Pin It!