The Truth About Handmade Sunscreen No One Is Telling You

Summer is coming and thus handmade sunscreen questions are on the rise again. I get asked at markets and I wanted to touch on this. 

Please know that sunscreen cannot be made by hand. It has nothing to do with products I would use inside of it. It is about the process. 

I wouldn’t be able to disperse the UV filters evenly across the whole product. I wouldn’t be able to provide full coverage of the applied skin. (Lotions and such always leave gaps on skin, they do not cover it completely like a sunscreen is supposed to.) I wouldn’t be able to provide both UVA and UVB protection. I wouldn’t be able to balance different filters for ideal protection since I have no way of testing different outcomes without a proper lab and R&D. And most handmade sunscreens I see only have like one filter anyways, zinc or beeswax. Undispersed, not homogenized zinc sitting on some parts of the skin is not a sun protection. And how will I test for SPF rating? How will I test for photostability? 

Sunscreen also is considered a drug by FDA in US. It is not a cosmetic. Because they are classified as drugs, sunscreens must meet FDA safety and efficacy standards for nonprescription drugs.

Please, please do not buy handmade sunscreen from anyone and put yourself in danger! This is one of those cases where handmade doesn’t mean safer and better.