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We get a lot of people asking if it's OK to use Shade on babies and children, the quick answer is "Yes!". In fact, all the ingredients in our Shade All-Natural Sunscreen are edible, so if your baby accidentally ingests it, it's highly unlikely to cause any issues.
We have carefully selected all of our ingredients for this very reason and omitted anything we feel is unnecessary. Coconut oil is widely consumed globally, shea butter is the primary edible vegetable fat used in West African cooking, beeswax is used as an additive in a number of foods, in fact beeswax is used to give fruit its shiny appearance and zinc oxide is a necessary mineral used in the food industry and used to fortify products like breakfast cereal. How many other sunscreens can literally claim to be edible (though not necessarily tasty)?
The active ingredient in Shade is non-nano zinc oxide which sits on top of the skin to do its job. Non-nano means that the zinc oxide particles are not small enough to pass into the skin which is considered to be safer for all skin types.
By comparison, chemical sunscreen may contain toxic ingredients such as benzophenones, cinnamates and dibenzoylmethanes, fragrances and preservatives which are designed to be absorbed by the skin. The chemicals are then broken down by sunlight and the suns heat is dispersed from the skin. The byproduct of this process is the creation of free radicals. Having some free radicals in the body is a good thing. For instance, they help destroy bacteria and viruses, but too many can cause significant damage and eventually disease.
If you have delicate skin, chemical sunscreens can cause contact dermatitis reactions, some of which can be as severe as caustic burns, so are unlikely to be served up for lunch any time soon. It is always recommended to do a patch test first to check for any allergic reactions.
Shade™ is probably one of the safest sunscreens on the market today and has the added benefit of being plastic free.
Important note
We absolutely do not recommend leaving your baby or child in the sun for a prolonged period of time. As you are no doubt aware, sunscreen should be considered only as an additional measure of protection, not the main measure of protection for babies, children or adults.
Check the UV index before you go out, assume it's going to be higher between 11am and 3pm and keep your baby in the shade and covered up with long-sleeved clothing and hats, apply a mineral sunscreen to exposed areas and reapply often, and keep an eye out for any redness of the skin from reflective surfaces around your baby.
If you want your baby to get their dose of Vitamin D, expose them to the sun in the early hours or later hours of the day, but always keep a vigilant eye on them.
This is an excellent article which sheds light on this issue too:
https://www.skincancer.org/blog/bringing-up-a-sun-safe-baby/
Some other interesting articles related to this topic:
- https://nap.nationalacademies.org/read/11763/chapter/19#303
- http://www.food-info.net/uk/e/e901.htm
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zinc_oxide#Food_additive
- https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/sunscreen-allergy
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