I tried Hara Sport as it got the best rating in the Environmental Working Group ratings and it was much less expensive than most of the others in that category.
The pros:
1. The product uses only natural ingredients and you will recognize every item in the list of ingredients, no strange sounding chemicals.
2. With all of its emollients, it is an excellent moisturizer.It may be a little oily, but if you want a moisturizer, this is a good thing.My two-year-old grandson has dry skin and his doctor says to try to prevent bouts of eczema by liberal use of moisturizers.As he also has fair skin, this is perfect for him.
3. This product is less expensive, often as much as half or more less expensive than other sunscreens in this category.
The cons:
1.As there are no chemicals to keep the product from separating, it does separate in warm weather.It was hot from the mail when I received it and when I tried to squirt some out, I just got what looked like olive oil out.I then read that it may separate in warm weather (over 80).I just kneaded the tube for about 30 seconds and it was fine.It is cooler in our house, and it has not separated again.Because of this, it's probably not the sunscreen that I would choose to put in my backpack for a long hike in the sun and heat, but it would work fine as the one I put on my face every the morning under makeup.
2.It is a little greasy, but whether that is a pro or con depends on whether you need a moisturizer or not.
3.As with all the zinc sunscreens I've tried, you do need to rub it in a little bit to avoid the "white face", but it didn't seem any better or worse than others in this regard.
This sunscreen will be my everyday one, but I'll probably go with one that doesn't separate to use for long days in the heat and sun.
I bought this sunscreen on Amazon after I saw it on EWG's list of safest sunscreens. It seemed quite good at protecting me from the sun on my beach vacation and the only occasion I got mildly red on my back was when snorkeling for one hour at about 12 noon, which I guess would be expected even with the best sunscreens. The major disadvantage is the fact that it is not very easy to spread on your skin and it turns you whitish even with quite a lot of rubbing. It also has a mild olive oil scent (one of the components is olive oil). And it would sometimes separate into two phases, so you really should shake the tube before using. In comparison with other EWG-listed sunscreens, I found it slightly easier to apply than "Badger SPF30", but for me the best I tried was "Alba Botanical SPF30" (good protection and the easiest to apply).
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I really hope this is good for me because it is absolutely terrible to apply.It is really clumpy so you have to be in front of a mirror to get the clumps off.It needs to be rubbed in hands for a good 30 seconds to get it warm to apply and even then it leaves a white mask wherever applied.It takes about 10 minutes to not be sticky.Then the skin is shiny pretty much all day wherever applied.I really DREAD putting this on.
BUT it is by far the most inexpensive and gets really good reviews on ewg.org.I think I may try a slightly more expensive product because I so dread using it that I find myself not putting it on, which defeats the purpose.
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We tried Hara along with Blue Lizard and Burnout (all good recommendations from EWG 2010 sunscreen toxicity report). Hara has an olive oil scent to it and is much thicker than the other two. We found if you use a tiny bit and dot it over a small area first, it is easier to spread. Definitely best price for low toxicity sunscreen. No reapplication necessary, water beads up on your skin. We never burned when using Hara but did not love the white face look.
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Like all zinc sunscreens it can appear white when applied, however kneeding the tube to mix the oil and zinc (which naturally separate) helps. This is explained on the package I believe. It's a small step considering the results. It goes on smoothly, lasts, and works. What more could you want? I found it through EWG rankings and it deserves its top billing.
I was looking a long time for a natural sunscreen, and as far as I could research this one has more natural (perhaps mineral or on the surface of skin opposed to working chemically within the skin) sunblock versus a chemical one (like Neutrogena as far as I have read).John Masters is not too greasy, it wears well under makeup.It does feel a little more like a sunscreen than a lotion (for instance Aveda's feels more like a lotion, but I stopped theirs because I wasn't sure of their ingredients, the tourmaline lotion).But, as far as i understand for john masters, the ingredients are more natural which is what I was looking for.I didn't give 5 stars because I need more clarification on their ingredients...so it's not the product, it's my understanding of what is in the product (perhaps more marketing on just how natural this is could help?).
