How to Apply Chem Free Sunscreen

In another episode I explained how much traditional or regular sunscreen (which really are carbon based sunscreens) that you need to use in order to get complete coverage so you get the full rated SPF of that sunscreen. For your entire body if you’re wearing a bathing suit, you need about an ounce, which is two of these tablespoons and if you’re dressed and you’re just covering your face and your neck you need an amount about a third to a half of a teaspoon which is somewhere between those two amounts. But what if you’re using a chem free or mineral sunscreen? How much of that do you need to apply, to again, get the rated SPF? The shorter answer is, much less. About a third to a half as much as a traditional or regular sunscreen and I’ll explain why. Chem free sunscreens are also called mineral sunscreen because they are based on the minerals zinc or titanium. When they are manufactured those minerals are pulverized into very tiny little particles. We call that micronization and as a result of micronization those very, very small particles are then able to give you much larger coverage of a much larger area. That’s because the aggregate of the surface area or the protective part of those minerals is much larger. Also because they’re tiny, tiny particles spread more easily and give you a thinner layer. All of these things account for having to use much less chem free sunscreen then traditional sunscreens. So how much do we need? Well actually to cover your entire body if you’re wearing a bathing suit you need somewhere between two of these teaspoons or three of these teaspoons which is really a tablespoon. But what about if you’re dressed and you just put sunscreen on your face? In that case, for full coverage you need an amount the size of a small pea. But there is a trick or technique to putting such a small amount of sunscreen on and getting full coverage and I’m going to show you. So I’m going to take this pea sized amount of sunscreen and instead of putting it in just one place and spreading it around, I’m dabbing it. I’m dabbing it all around my face and putting a lot of different pieces on and when I do that, because it such small particles and it spreads so easily then I can spread it around from all of those places and I get full coverage, I get an even coating and if I’ve applied the proper amount and I’ve spread it around I don’t see any white marks, I don’t see any residue, it becomes very thin and sheer and as a result it’s almost invisible to me but I’m getting terrific protection from this chem free sunscreen. And in this case, this was a 30, and this 30 is going to be very, very effective in protecting me from both UVA and UVB rays. So, if you’re using a chem free sunscreen, remember, put on as little as is necessary to cover the entire area and you’ll need much less. If you put too much on, it’s not going to take away from the effect of the sunscreen but if you see white spots on your face, you’re not going to be happy. So, with chem free sunscreens, less is more and remember everyday wear sunscreen with an SPF of between fifteen and thirty with UVA protection.