2008 Writer
richelmore
Chattanooga, TN

Pricey but worth it!

4 star rating

a sunscreen user, au 'naturale', a bargain hunter, value conscious, college student, Open-minded
Pros

    organic, mineral-based, pretty strong SPF level, a little goes quite a long way, not tested on animals, does not irritate my sensitive skin

Cons
    pricey, need to rub it in really well!

AUG
24
2008
As a person who spent two years living high up in the sky in beautiful Albuquerque, New Mexico, I quickly learned that it was key to wear a good sunscreen everyday. Even in the dead of winter, at such a high elevation, the level of sun you're exposed to daily is much higher than your skin/body requires. My body was usually quite covered but this pale, pale face of mine was having a few problems dealing with so much sun at first. I needed to protect my face, ears, chest, and neck and pronto. My problem: my skin is insanely sensitive to sunscreen and it appears that this is from a mild skin allergy to whatever it is that SPF is usually derived from. I needed something with zinc or some alternative product to keep my face from breaking out into a painful, painful rash.

So, I got in my car and drove to the nearest Walmart to peruse their options for me. Most looked ok but all had the same chemical-derivations. This wasn't going to work. Then I stumbled across this little guy. Earth's Best Sunblock Creme Anti-Solaire is mineral-based and 30+ SPF, just what I was looking for. I started reading a little more. It was hypo-allergenic (good), and fragrance and paraben free (Awesome! My facial skin doesn't need any of that!). It's apparently 70% organic, but that didn't matter too much to me. I turned it over on the back.

Drug Facts:
  1. Titanium Dioxide 8.0%
  2. Zinc Oxide 2.5%
Hmm, interesting. Zinc is that thick white paste dorky people in movies used to always use on their noses. Am I a dorky person? How will I handle having white paste on my nose?

I kept reading. Derived from natural sources and not tested on animals, I was feeling a little excited. I knew that there was potential for this to be MY sunscreen. And it was.

Unfortunately, the price tag was steep. Even at Walmart it was $13.88. Fortunately, a little of this thick, creamy paste goes a long way. I rub a little on my face every day and always notice a drastic difference. Because of the cost and the hyper-sensitivity of my skin being only on my face, I never use this on the rest of my body (apart from the neck, ears, throat, and face). The cheap NO-AD stuff works great for all of that.

Since this product is zinc and titanium based, it is, of course, very very white. This is bad if you don't rub it in and it can be seen even with a light layer of the product, but if you are sure to rub it in well, there is never any white sheen.

In reality, I bought this over a year ago and applied a little most every day (ok, so maybe I wasn't as diligent or religious about application as I had hoped) but it's still a very full container. For the price, I think the quality is quite worth it but because of the two issues (high price and the need to rub in quite a lot), it gets four stars, instead of five. But I really do love this product.

(The primary photo is property of drugstore.com and came from this link: http://pics.drugstore.com/prodimg/141566/200.jpg)

Last edited on Aug 24, 2008



I_thumb_up Earth's Best Sunblock Creme Anti-Solaire Mineral Based SPF 30 is recommended by richelmore

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AnnaBanana wrote on Aug 25, 2008 at 10:17AM

This is really an important review -- it may be that some people who have had problems with sunscreen didn't know about the possibility of an allergic reaction to the usual stuff.


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