Sunscreen to avoid
I fell for it again! I bought the wrong skin care product – this time sun block. I’ll tell you my most recent sunscreen to avoid!
Sun is bad for skin
Wearing sunscreen is so important for your skin and your health. We all know this but many times either choose to ignore the advice (until it’s too late) or we don’t make it a priority. If this happens, we find ourselves out in the sun unprepared.

The older I get, I am more and more concerned about skin damage such as wrinkles, fine lines and age spots. But the number 1 thing I worry about is skin cancer. There are over 100,000 cases each year, according to Seer.cancer.gov. I know several people who have had to get their cancers removed yet still don’t wear sunblock. They think that each time they get skin cancer, it can be removed. If your luck doesn’t run out, great but I wouldn’t chance it.

Plus, what about all the damage you are doing to your skin. These people will surely regret their decision in about 10-15 years! So, trust me on sunscreen – wear it!!!
Cosmetics industry thievery
So while I’ve been very diligent on wearing sunscreen myself, I’m also always trying to ensure that I’m using the ‘cleanest’ products. They are hard to find, though – very hard to find. Yesterday, I talked about the cosmetic industry thievery practices.

Cosmetics and skin care companies spend a lot of money to market to you and I. They have a lot at stake – money! The more they convince you to buy their product, the more money in their pockets. But if what they are telling you is misleading, that’s a problem.
Sunscreen to avoid
Sadly, I fell for it! I know better to look at the ingredients of products and I do it, frequently. Yet I missed on this one. I recently bought Kinship Self Reflect for this reason. Their website shows me ‘The No-No list’, which lulled me into thinking they don’t use bad stuff in their sunscreen. I was wrong. Here’s how I found out…
My story
Now that the weather is getting nicer and I am outside more during peak times, I wanted to pull out my sunscreen. I pulled out my $40 tube of Kinship. Crazy thing is that the ingredients were NOT listed on the tube – it must have only been listed on the box it was packaged in. I had thrown the box away a few months ago, after I had opened it. There was no point in keeping the box, right?
Since I’ve been so focused on ingredients lately, I checked the internet. The Kinship website does a great job of telling you how great their product is (i.e. marketing). I saw ‘The No-No list’ again but this time, I really scrutinized the ingredients and saw Sodium Benzoate, which is a common ingredient in ‘natural’ skin care products but there have been studies that cause alarm when it comes to your health, especially when used with ascorbic acid. This sunscreen does not contain ascorbic acid but do you know that another product you are using doesn’t use it??? My hairs stood up on the back of my neck. I was so angry.

Then, I saw they also use potassium sorbate, which can cause allergic reactions. I am now on a new quest to find the sunscreen that doesn’t contain harmful ingredients. I’ll update when I find the one I love!
Update: Here is a list of some Coral Safe Sunscreens that I approve of.
For more information on skin care ingredients, click here for a list. I update it regularly.
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