Summer Sun, Something's Begun!
It’s mid-May and we’re almost there. Where? Almost into spring in New England! We should be knee deep in it by now, preparing for the impending heat and humidity, but over the years, it seems to me
that the seasons have shifted forward a little bit. I am finally sleeping with the windows cracked at night,
opening them wide in the mornings to let in the fresh air.
This is the time of year when everyone thinks about a summer
regimen. When we have finally shed
the dead skin of winter and are prepping it for the sun. We know, or we should, that a skin care
system is a 365 event, unless you are a mole, because the sun doesn’t just come
out to play in the summer. But,
it’s on your mind now, and in every commercial and on every end caps at every
store. So let’s talk about skin
care.
The average woman is exposed to a ridiculous amount of
chemicals each day, coming in contact with more than 200 in the
products she smears on her skin. (60% of those chemicals can be found in the bloodstream. Who wants that?)
When my oldest was born I began a quest to try to reduce the
amount of toxins we ingested, either through products or food. This is an ongoing battle that will
probably never be 100% finished.
Every day we encounter an unknown number of things that are outside of
our control, so we do the best we can where we can.
Enter Block Island Organics. First, they’re local to me here in Rhode Island, and that’s
a win. Second, they’re
organic. Which means that there
are no harmful chemicals. And,
third, the price is reasonable. In
an effort to keep prices affordable, while all of the ingredients are safe,
some are not certified organic. To certify that a product is free from harmful things is extremely
expensive, yet it costs nothing to
poison us with chemically laden products.
Go figure.
You can check out each of the ingredients in Block Island Organic Sunscreen and even see the Environmental Working Group's ratings in terms of safety.
The most important test for me was the family test. My 'roommates' are super active, always moving and they HATE to be slathered with sunscreen. I try to do it early, because often can be a challenge, but
keeping up is important.
Right now, our beach bags have old bottles of Coppertone
Sport, which is what we used last year.
It’s not on the good list at all, in fact making the top 10 worst sunscreens. I don’t buy it,
but the hubs prefers how easy it goes on, doesn’t run, feels clean, and most of
all, works. So these were the
standards he would hold any and all other products to if they were to make the
grade, and the coveted spot in the beach bag. And the kids follow his lead, so it would be three to one if
I couldn’t find something good.
Are you on the edge of your seat? Holding your breath with anticipation? Don’t be silly. You know I am going to tell you that
this product hit the mark. I don’t
talk about stuff that we end up hating, or would never buy. So if it makes the blog, chances are that it makes the grade…and the bag!
Block Island Organics went on smooth. I was surprised at first, and figured
that it had separated in the package and wasn’t mixed together. My past experiences with natural sunscreens hasn't been good. But this one was just fine – that’s how it’s made. It smelled clean, if at all, as it has
no fragrance added. It rubbed in
easily, with only a few spots (eyebrows, chin lines and scalps) requiring a real
good effort to blend. It lasted
for hours and left no tacky, sticky, icky residue that I feel comes with some
more natural products.
All in all, this crew probably wouldn’t have noticed if I
blindfolded them when they applied the product, but, it was reassuring to get thumbs up all around. So, this summer, we will fill our bags with Block Island Organics and know that we've got a
safe, local product that keeps us enjoying the summer sun as long as it’s
shining. (May that be a LONG, LONG time!) And, we'll be living the BIO mantra, "Play smart, play safe."
Follow Block Island Organics on all the social media sites, like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram. If you visit their website and sign up for their email list, you can get 15% off of your online order. AND, as May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month, you can enter to win a prize pack that includes sunscreen, sunburn relief, a tee shirt and towel.
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Disclosure: I received free samples of Block Island Organics to try. As always, opinions are all mine!