When asked what top 3 ingredients are most avoided in personal care products, these are the answers given: Parabens, phthalates and oxybenzone. Given the time of year, let's look at oxybenzone. It is an ingredient found in a lot of sunscreen.
For only two ingredients is there enough safety information about ingredients to determine whether they’re safe and effective: zinc oxide and titanium dioxide. For 12 other ingredients, the FDA has said there isn’t enough data to determine whether they’re safe. In particular, FDA raised concerns about the substantial skin absorption of oxybenzone, its potential to affect hormone levels and the increased absorption susceptibility of children (FDA 2019).
Getting 20 - 30 minutes of sunshine a day for the Vitamin D benefit is beneficial. If you are like me and my family, we must get out of the sun or put on safe spf to stay out longer than 1/2 hour. We get great results from Beautycounter's Countersun line. We love the spf 30 lotion for body and face and the spf 30 face stick for quick face reapplication or the tops of ears.
If you cannot use Beautycounter's sunscreen due to citrus sensitivity, contact me for other safer suggestions.