When the sun is out, folks ask me every day about how to stay safe in the sun, and avoid being mauled by bugs. First, I'll address skin care in the sun.

What's worse? The sun, or the toxins in the sunscreens?

I hope my answer doesn't disappoint you; it's not an either/or situation. Regular exposure to the sun lets your skin adapt to defend itself against harmful rays, all the while making vitamin D. So tanning is a healthy response, and those who get regular exposure to the sun lower their skin cancer risk. Burning is absolutely not healthy – it clearly increases your risk of deadly skin cancer. So what to do?

The boring stuff I always say:
1.Drink lots of water – 2 litres a day. Skin is moisturized from the inside out, and we need more water the more we perspire. Drinking water keeps us cool, detoxified and is essential to healthy skin.
2.Take care of your skin – Moisturize with good vegetable oils and butters, never wash with Sodium Laurel Sulphate soaps or shampoos, and eat a wide variety of raw and cooked foods.

The possibly not that much more exciting stuff about safer sun exposure:
1.Always wear a wide brimmed hat and a light natural fibre shirt in the midday sun, and when biking or doing other outdoor activity in the sun.
2.Use sun protecting vegetable oils and butters to moisturize the skin all summer long. The following oils and butters can have an SPF (sun protection factor) of 15: avocado oil & butter, cocoa butter, hemp seed oil, coconut oil, shea butter, sesame oil. I'd be pleased to sell you any of these items at my Clinic, as I carry them in bulk. Make sure your hemp is unrefined Canadian and your cocoa, coconut and shea butters are fairly traded.
3.Wear a natural sunscreen during daylight hours. Carry it with you at all times, and reapply it every 2 hours in the sun.

Now that's the problem! What is “natural”? What is toxic?

In general, if you can't read the ingredients, or it's all initials such as OMC for octyl methoxycinnamate, it's probably toxic. The exception is if you see the latin botanical names of plant extracts or essential oils such as Benzoin or Gum Benjamin (Styrax benzoin), or if you see “Tocopherol” - that's a vitamin E. Here's a list of common toxic ingredients in sunscreens:
Avobenzone
Cinoxate
Dioxybenzone
fragrances
Homosalate
Menthyl anthranilate
mineral oils
nanoparticles (in those invisible sunscreens)
Octocrylene
Octyl methoxycinnamate aka OMC
Octyl salicyclate
Oxybenzone
Padimate O
Para amino benzoic acid
parabens
petrolatum (petroleum ingredients)
Phenylbenzimidazole
Sulisobenzone
Trolamine salicyclate

To find out more about the ingredients in your sunscreen, you can look each ingredient up at the Environmental Working Group's fabulous Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database at: http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/

Remember that all citrus essential oils are phototoxic, meaning that they cause the skin to burn faster in the sun. Mandarin, tangerine, petitigrain, bergamot, orange, grapefruit, lemon and lime essential oils should not be used as perfumes or ingredients in oils or sunscreens during daylight hours.

So what ingredients should you see in a natural, safe sunscreen?

For a SPF (sun protection factor) of 15, there's:
avocado oil & butter
cocoa butter
hemp seed oil (unrefined)
coconut oil
shea butter
sesame oil

I'd be pleased to sell you any of these items at my Clinic, as I carry them in bulk. Make sure your hemp is unrefined Canadian and your cocoa, coconut and shea butters are fairly traded.

For an SPF of 28, sunscreens can use natural minerals from clay and sand deposits. The minerals remain on your skin to reflect and scatter away UVA and UVB rays from the body by forming a physical barrier shield, without irritating or clogging your pores. I've been making a popular SPF 28 sort of sun screen with zinc oxide, whose safety as a sun screening agent has been established for over 75 years.

If you get your sun screens through Anarres Natural Health, I can fill your reused pump bottle, or sell you a reusable metal pump bottle or glass jar, and I will refill for you at a $1 - $4 discount. No plastic! No more used sunscreen tubes lying around poisoning the world for 575 years!

What's worse? The bugs, or the toxins in the insect repellants?

In short, the toxins in your average insect repellant are far worse than the bites in the long run. DEET, permethrin and other common insect repellants are actually insecticides that you put directly on your skin! Added to these “chemical name” ingredients are the usual toxins found in lotions and creams: parabens and so forth, adding cancer risk to the potential for neurological damage. Pregnant women need to be especially careful to avoid these chemicals, and these should never be used on babies and children. If it can kill a bug, it can harm you.

My father worked in Nistassinan where the black flies pick your bones. His advice to avoid being mauled by bugs is:
1.Don't eat bananas, or sweet fruits or fruit juices.
2.Don't bathe, but if you must, do not use any scented soaps.
3.Wear light clothing and screen off areas if you can.
4.Eat garlic.

According to Wikipedia's references:

“a 2006 published study found in both cage and field studies that a product containing 40% oil of lemon eucalyptus was just as effective as products containing high concentrations of DEET. Research has also found that neem oil is mosquito repellent for up to 12 hours. Citronella oil's mosquito repellency has also been verified by research, including effectiveness in repelling Aedes aegypti, but requires reapplication after 30-60 minutes...”

There are many naturally occurring scents that repel bugs:
* Achillea alpina (Repels mosquitos)
* Basil
* Callicarpa americana (Beautyberry)
* Camphor
* Catnip oil
* Eucalyptus oil (eucalyptol, syn. cineol), mosquitos
* Garlic
* Lemongrass
* Lavender
* Marigolds
* Marjoram
* Neem oil
* Peppermint
* Rosemary
* Sage
* Tea tree

If you want to make your own, be sure that you find a reliable source for your recipe, as botanicals are powerful medicines. If you want to buy an off the shelf product, look it up its safety first on the Skin Deep database. http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/browse.php?category=insect/pest%20repel...

I concoct a skin-healthy, kid-safe insect repellant that I am calling (Don't) Bite Me, using essential oils of cajeput, lavender, lemon eucalyptus, lemongrass and dark patchouli. I am also creating an after-bite reliever I am calling Bite Be-gone. In a base of jojoba it is available in 25 and 100 ml atomizer bottles.

Have a safe summer!