Last week I posted How to Make Homemade Sunscreen. In that post, I mentioned that the recipe was not very acne-friendly. At least for me personally, coconut oil makes my face break out. It has a comedogenic rating of 4 out of 5, meaning it is very likely to clog your pores. So, the sunscreen is great for use on your body, but if your face is acne prone like me, you might want to use a separate face sunscreen.
I had that in mind when I made this recipe. I used only ingredients with low comedogenic ratings. And it has done WONDERS for my skin. I have started using it as my daily moisturizer. So now I have an awesome moisturizer with SPF that makes my skin glow. Seriously, my skin loves this stuff.
Ok- this sunscreen is a natural moisturizer, has anti-inflammatory properties, is non-comedogenic, is waterproof, and has no harmful chemicals. I promise, it is not too good to be true. It is true!
It cost $6.48 to make about 4 ounces of this facial sunscreen. When you think about how much the “natural” sunscreens for your face cost in stores, that’s a really good price. It is really thick and you only need a tiny amount to cover your whole face, so the small bottle will last you a while.
Don’t you hate reading ingredient labels and wondering what the heck some ingredients are and why they are in cosmetics? Well here is why I used each of these ingredients:
- Shea Butter: Natural SPF of 3-8, natural moisturizer, non-comedogenic, good source of vitamins for skin, anti-inflammatory (You can get it here)
- Jojoba Oil: Natural SPF of 4, non-greasy oil moisturizer, anti-bacterial, natural antiseptic, non-comedogenic (You can get it here)
- Beeswax: Makes sunscreen waterproof, protects skin against damaging elements, antioxidant, anti-bacterial, and anti-inflammatory (You can get it here)
- Zinc Oxide: Sun protection (You can get it here)
- Red Raspberry Seed Oil or Carrot Seed Oil: Natural SPF of about 30-40, anti-inflammatory (You can get it here or here)
- Vitamin E Oil: Antioxidant, natural moisturizer, anti-inflammatory, helps preserve shelf life of sunscreen (You can get it here)
Before I started making my own cosmetics I had no idea that oils could have natural SPF in them. It makes sense when you think about it. This recipe uses both oils and zinc oxide to achieve a higher SPF level. If you want to learn more about natural sun protection- this is a great article.
So if you leave the zinc oxide out- this recipe will naturally have an SPF of about 20 or so. That is my unprofessional estimate based on the oil SPF ratings.
The sunscreen is super easy to make. All you need to do is melt everything but the essential oils and zinc oxide in a double boiler, or a pot placed on top of a pot of boiling water. It only takes a few minutes and a little bit of stirring.
It looks like a lovely shade of honey once it is melted down.
Next all you do is add the essential oils and zinc oxide. And that’s it! Super easy.
Facial Sunscreen
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup shea butter
- 2 tbsp jojoba oil
- 2 tbsp beeswax
- 1 tsp vitamin E oil
- 10 drops red raspberry seed oil or carrot seed oil
- 1 tbsp zinc oxide powder
Instructions
- Melt the jojoba oil, beeswax, shea butter, and vitamin E oil in a double boiler until well combined
- Remove from heat and add 10 drops of red raspberry seed oil or carrot seed oil
- Very carefully add in the zinc oxide, taking care not to breathe any in. You might want to cover your mouth with a cloth if you do not trust yourself to be a careful mixer
- Mix slowly and thoroughly until there are no more powdered clumps of zinc oxide
- Pour into your desired container and let it return to room temperature
- Use as you would any facial sunscreen of SPF 30-40
The sunscreen is very thick and will not squeeze out of a squeeze bottle. I recommend putting it in a bottle or jar with a wide lid so you can scoop it out.
Like I said already, I am kind of obsessed with this stuff. It has been great for my skin and I use it as my daily moisturizer. It also survived a day at the beach without me getting burnt. So it is good on all fronts.
Try making it and let me know how it goes for you!
This homemade sunscreen is great for your face, but you should also check out my homemade body sunscreen! Together the two are a perfect complement.
MaryB says
I really want to try this. It sounds amazing. Couple questions first. Is there a specific scent to it? Is it possible to make one fragrance (of almost) free? Secondly, in the written instructions, you wrote almond and coconut oil, but those are not in the ingredients. So which oils did you use?
Thanks!
Susie says
Hi Mary,
I know I already answered your question, but I figured I would do it here as well in case anyone else had the same questions. There are no artificial or added fragrances in any of the ingredients in this sunscreen. To me, it smells like sunscreen smell (from the zinc oxide) and shea butter. The red raspberry seed oil or carrot seed oil may have a slight scent to it but it will probably not be noticeable in the final product. Thanks for pointing out the mistake in the instructions- I meant to write jojoba oil- it’s fixed now!
Leah says
Hi! I just made your product for the first time. I have what I hope to be a quick question! I used the carrot seed oil and it did have quite a distinct smell to it. I added 5 drops of lavender essential oil to try to mask it, but the carrot is still quite potent. I’m afraid to add more smells in case I turn the batch into an overly perfumed mess and/or a less effective product.
Do you have any advice for this?
Thank you in advance!
Susie says
Hi Leah. If you want you can reduce the amount of carrot seed oil, although that will reduce the amount of SPF slightly. I’ve found red raspberry seed oil to have less of a distinctive scent, personally.
Christina says
Can I substitute the jojoba oil for another thinner oil like avocado or fractionated coconut oil? I’m just wondering how to make it a little thinner… Maybe I could try using a little less beeswax? I plan on making this, but I need it to work for a squeeze bottle if I’m going to get my boyfriend to try it. Thanks!
Susie says
Using less beeswax or shea butter would make it thinner. My jojoba oil is about the same consistency as avocado oil. If you didn’t use beeswax the recipe would work fine but it wouldn’t be waterproof. I would play around with the ratios of jojoba oil and shea butter to get something thinner and reduce beeswax.
chelsie says
Does it leave a white sheen on your face? I really want to try this!
Susie says
Not at all! You have to rub it in a little more than store-bought sunscreens, but I’ve been using this as my daily moisturizer and it is great. It doesn’t make my skin oily either.
Amanda @ The Kolb Corner says
Another great homemade product. Thank you for sharing this with us at the Merry Monday Link Party!
Isa says
Can you substitute cocoa butter for the shea butter?
Susie says
Cocoa butter is highly comedogenic, meaning it clogs your pores. You can substitute it but the sunscreen will no longer be acne-friendly. I only recommend using cocoa butter for recipes that are for your body only and not on your face. Although I absolutely love it and love how it smells.
PK says
How long does it last and how do you store it?
Susie says
It is best to keep it out of direct sunlight in a container with an airtight lid. You can refrigerate it if you’d like to make it last longer. It should last a few months at least, but it will depend where you keep it. Mine is still working from this summer.
Cynthia says
Just wondering if this sunscreen is oily. It seems like there’s a lot of oil in the recipe.
Thanks.
Cynthia
Susie says
In my opinion it isn’t any more oily than what I usually buy in the store. All the oils in this recipe are oils that won’t clog your pores. So clearly it is oil-based and not water-based, but I don’t find it oily personally. It absorbs quite nicely.
Tasnim says
Thank you for sharing this with us. I just can’t wait to try it now. I have been battling with acne now since I was a teenage and still at the age of 33yrs have acne. In fact, since I turned 24 I started getting really bad cystic acne. It’s extermly hard to find sunscreen or any face cream for that matter, that is suitable for acne skin. I really hope this keeps my skin acne free and calm. Thanks again,
Tasnim
London
Alice says
So you are using this as a moisturiser with sunscreen – would you say the consistency would work with applying makeup over the top? would you reapply over the day like a chemical sunscreen or does it stay put?
Susie says
You could definitely apply makeup over the top. I would just give it a few minutes to let your skin absorb it. For a regular day, you probably only need to apply once, but if you’re going to be outside all day or at the beach, you will probably want to reapply as needed.
Sophie says
Lately I’ve been searching for a non-comedogenic daily moisturizer with some SPF that is good for acne, and am definitely planning of trying this out! I’m a teenager and have had pretty bad acne for a few years now, and have tried almost everything to make it go away. Recently I’ve been using raw honey masks which leave my skin super clear, but I’m hesitant to put anything new on my skin when it’s doing so well. I know shea butter is a super strong moisturizer, beeswax is very thick, and this recipe contains a lot of oils. Do you think it would still work for an acne-ridden teenager? Are there some recipe modifications I could try? Thanks!
Susie says
Contrary to what the skincare business would like you to believe, oils are not bad for your face and don’t cause acne. They are efficient moisturizers that reduce your skin’s need to make more oils which causes acne. The shea butter and jojoba oil both have comedogenic ratings of 0, which means they are very unlikely to clog your pores. The beeswax has a rating of 1-2, making it mildly comedogenic, but it is important to the final product. You can cut the amount down but it will make it less waterproof. Vitamin E oil is great for skin and works as a natural preservative. The other ingredients add the UV protection. Hope this makes sense.
Sandra says
Hi Sophie
I wonder if the sunscreen worked for you? I have a teenage daughter with acne skin. I love to hear if it worked so i can make it for her. I know its been a long time ago but you klaver know ,maybe you still youse it ☺️
Thanks
Rossana says
Thank you very much for sharing this recepie! I just tried it, it is cooling on my counter. I have a couple of questions. I hope you won’t mind helping me… 1- when I added the powder, it mixed very well. I kept mixing and then, it was not anymore so well mixed. I continued mixing and the result is not too bad, but not 100% perfect eitheir. Is that normal? 2 – I followed the links for the carrot and rasberry oils and to me, they look more like carrier oils than essential oils… Could you please confirm that in the recepie,it is meant to be essential oils? I put rasberry seed carrier oil in the batch I just made. Thank you so much!
Susie says
Thank you for pointing that out- the carrot seed oil is the wrong link. You want to use the essential oils. I’m not sure I understand what you mean about the mixing.
amanda says
hi. what other oils can you sub in for the joboba? also i bought rasberry seed oil carrier not the essential oil type. will the spf still be the same?
Susie says
You can sub in pretty much any oil that is liquid at room temperature, but not all will be acne friendly. Grapeseed or sunflower oils are two that I like that are non comedogenic. If you have red raspberry seed oil in a carrier oil, it will not be the same SPF because it is already diluted.
Aminee says
I plan to make this, but without the zinc wouldn’t the SPF be higher than 20-30? The raspberry oil has 30-40 SPF on its own, not to mention the SPF found in jojoba oil. I plan to use carrot seed and rasp oil so that should make the SPF higher too.
Susie says
I wanted to estimate on the conservative side, since making homemade products aren’t exact.
Aminee says
Also, you said it absorbs quite nicely. I have non nano zinc. Is this what you used?
Susie says
Yes, it is non-nano. Sorry for taking so long to reply!
Maryam says
Would it be okay to leave out the essential oils since the zinc already has sunscreen? Also, could you substitute jojoba oil for another oil, for example grapeseed oil? Thanks
Susie says
Yes and yes. I’ve seen grape seed oil ranked from mildly to moderately comedogenic, so if you are very acne prone jojoba is a safer bet. If not, grapeseed is great. Sunflower oil would also work as a substitution.
heather says
You mention that you have a separate moisturizer for the body, but is this one ok to use for your body?
I do get some acne on my chest, back and arms so I don’t know if the body one would be a good idea.
Susie says
Yes! The ingredients in this one are a little more expensive, so that’s why I mention the body sunscreen recipe, but it is totally fine to use for the body.
Tim K says
Could aloe vera gel be used instead of jojoba oil? I like aloe vera, which is also very cheap.
Susie says
I love aloe as well. It is water-based, so the ingredients wouldn’t mix properly unless you use a different method to make it. You might want to check out my aloe vera moisturizer, and add some zinc oxide to it instead of trying to replace jojoba with aloe in this recipe.
Michele says
I’m a runner and sweat a lot, so will this sunscreen stay put on my face?
Susie says
The beeswax will make it water resistant but I don’t know how it will hold up under heavy sweat and outdoor exercise. I always work out inside so I don’t have experience trying it out. My instinct is that it will be okay, because I’ve gone swimming with this sunscreen on. Let me know how it goes for you.
Jude says
How often would this need to be reapplied, if at all please?
Susie says
It is approximately SPF 30, so reapply as you would an SPF 30 sunscreen. Everyone’s skin burns differently so I can’t tell you how often you will need to reapply, but better safe than sorry. I usually reapply after an hour or so of direct sun.
Jude says
Great. Thank you for the swift reply!
Jamie says
Can you make this with out the jojobo oil or substituting with hemp seed oil? Jojobo oil makes my skin break out and hemp has a comedogenic rating of 0. Also could you substitute another wax?
Susie says
You can definitely substitute hemp seed oil. You could try another wax but I don’t have any personal experience with it so I’m not sure how it would work. I know that carnauba wax is harder than beeswax so you add less, but I have yet to try using it as a replacement.
Stephanie says
i love this recipe! I hate the feel of traditional sunscreens, so I end up not using them. I even have a couple of high priced, safe ones, that I still don’t really like the feel of. This one rubs in so nicely, with no white film. Thank you! I’m thrilled to have found this! I live in CA and really should be wearing sunblock every day. Now I think I may be able to do that!
OLga says
Where did you get your containers and do they work good for this type of sunscreen? I made this sunscreen the other day and wonder if it would work in a tube container like yours. Love the sunscreen a lot. I just added lavender and frankincense essential oils to cover the strong Shea butter smell. And after one day using it ppl are asking me to make them some. It’s that good. Thank you.
Susie says
I ended up storing these in wide lid mason jars so they’re easier to scoop out. The tube didn’t quite squeeze out, the sunscreen was too solid.
Treble says
Hi!
I wanted to give this a try but it was my first time making home made moisturiser.
I subbed the beeswax for soy wax as I’m vegan and tried adding aloe gel (I also forgot the vitamin E!) but I’ve found the cream to still be too oily/sticky for me.
Have you got any tips for making something that’s more like a gel rather than cream?
What would your opinion be on mixing just aloe gel with zinc oxide?
My main concern is SPF as most moisturisers make my skin greasy by the end of the day.
Thanks!
Susie says
Hi! The difficulty of making a more gel like/ lightweight cream is to get it to emulsify (which means getting the oil and water to mix). In this recipe, the wax acts as a stabilizer enough to emulsify the cream. However, the higher the proportion of water, the more difficult to emulsify. You can use emulsifying wax but is synthetic and not considered a natural ingredient. So if you wanted a less greasy feel, you could use emulsifying wax and use a much higher proportion of aloe vera gel to the oil. I would use just jojoba oil because it is more lightweight than almond. I have no idea about whether mixing aloe with zinc oxide would work. I imagine that the zinc oxide would just fall to the bottom of the mixture, so it would need to be mixed with every use. I’m not an expert- just someone who has done a lot of trial and error. So I guess just google and try- that’s the method I use!
Reema says
Hi Susie,
Thanks for the great recipe and I am excited to try out this homemade facial sunscreen. I have a question though. Will it have an oily or greasy look and feel when applied on the skin?
Susie says
Yes, it does feel greasy at first, but it absorbs and becomes less greasy. How fast that happens depends on your skin type.
Haikaa says
Hi Susie,
Thank you for posting this. I’m one of those creatures with a fussy skin that is both super sun-sensitive and acne prone so this looks like something that would suit me. I tried one recipe with coconut oil which I LOVED but my skin didn’t… I’ve been DIY-ing a lot as well as becoming more of a minimalist so I was wondering if the recipe might work with the ingredients I currently have. I DON”T HAVE vitamin-e nor the carrotseed oil/raspberry oil. Thank you for your input _/\_
Susie says
You can leave out both those ingredients. The vitamin E oil helps as a preservative so it is useful in extending shelf life. The essential oils increase the SPF, so just know you will need to reapply more often if you do not use them.
Haikaa says
Thank you so much for your reply Susie, I shall give it a try and I will let folks here know how it goes. If I don’t get acne from it, no one will \O/
Niki says
Wondering how this faired for you? I have finicky skin too and am considering just zinc oxide and jojoba oil
Melissa says
Can you add essential oil to this like clove to reduce breakouts? I started using hemp seed oil with a little of that and the combination has cleared up my skin like a miracle!
Susie says
Of course!
Tracy says
HiI haven’t made your sunscreen, but something similar. It is however quite thick. I made one with the non nano and one with non at all for a low protection, both are thick and not great to apply. I’ve use essential oils, coconut oil and shea butter. Do you think less shea butter will make much difference? Any guidance would be appreciated.
Regards,
Tracy
Susie says
Yes, if you want it to be less thick, you can use more liquid oils and less butter-type oils that are thick. Also reducing the amount of beeswax will make it less thick, but also less waterproof. I imagine if you used only coconut oil and shea butter that it would be quite thick.
Tracy says
Thanks, just what I thought x
Daniele says
Do I want to use rasberry / carrot seed essential oil? or carrier oil?
Susie says
essential oil
Lana says
Hi there.
I made a batch of this and I love it. However, it’s REALLY thick. Like basically a solid. I have it in a 4oz mason jar and that works well enough, but I’m wondering if I added too much of something that made it that consistency. Advice?
Susie says
You may not have added too much of something, there might just be some variance in ingredients that causes your version to be thicker than you like. If you want it to be less thick, you can use more liquid oils and less butter-type oils (shea, etc.) that are thick. Also reducing the amount of beeswax will make it less thick, but also less waterproof.
Erin says
Do you think instead of Jojoba oil I could use pure Argan oil?
Susie says
Yes, that should work
Erin says
Great, thank you very much. I’ll try it out and see how it works out. Thanks for the recipe! :)
Niki says
I’m thinking of making this with just jojoba or just Shea butter and zinc. Would it work?
Susie says
I don’t think it would stay mixed or stable, that’s why I mix with solid oils and beeswax as well.
leslie says
Would mango butter be an okay substitute for shea butter?
Susie says
Yes. It may change the texture of the final product, but mango butter is considered low or non-comedogenic so it should be okay for acne prone skin.
Ikram says
Hi!
Can I use Tea Tree oil instead of red raspberry seed oil?
Susie says
Of course! It doesn’t have the same sun protection as red raspberry seed, but you can use any essential oil you prefer
Emma says
Hi! I was just wondering if you thought it would be possible to make this into a sunscreen stick by possible adding more beeswax. Thanks!
Susie says
Possibly! I wouldn’t add much more because it is already quite thick. But it’s worth a try.
andrea says
i love this sunblock! Can i add more zinc to make it a higher spf?
Susie says
You can, but you may find that at higher concentrations it leaves the skin white or is harder to rub in.
Traci says
Hi. I made this recipe as well as the homemade body sunscreen. Both feel great and the body sunscreen worked amazingly well. This one however, didn’t work as well; I ended up with quite the sunburn on my face. To be fair, I do have Rosacea and I don’t know if or how much that played a part in the end results.
One thing I changed in this recipe is I used mango butter vs. shea butter because I don’t really like the smell of shea (though I did use it in the body sunscreen). I’m wondering if I could increase the zinc amount to help it along more, while maintaining use of the mango butter? I have shea so I can always make another recipe using it to test it with the same amount of zinc but I really like the mango. What do you think?
Susie says
Oh no- I’m so sorry you got burnt! It’s always good to reapply more often than you think is necessary. Most of the SPF is coming from the zinc oxide so changing to mango butter shouldn’t make a big difference. You can try increasing zinc oxide but it will make the texture more grainy.
Stellar says
This is totally irresponsible of you to post this type of recipe. Without having your you formula tested you are just guessing at the SPF. Sunscreen is the most challenging thing to formulate and make correctly. People! please if you are not comfortable with “chemicals” (everything is a chemical!)do your research based in science and find one that has been tested properly that you feel comfortable using. Your skin health should be more important to you than some blogger’s opinion on how to make a sunscreen.
Tara says
Thanks for the word of caution. However, although it may be hard to say what the SPF is, I can say that this stuff works amazingly! Used it on all my kids last summer and none of us ever burned- and we are outside a lot. About to make more for this summer. At least we know what our sunscreen contains and that there are no harsh chemicals in it. I always test homemade products on myself before using on kids or anyone else. We don’t have to pay big money for products that are “tested properly” or labeled a certain way (even labels on products we buy are waaay misleading).
Thanks for the post/recipe. My kids’ skin reacts poorly to coconut oil so I use this as an all over sunblock for them. Gentle enough for the baby!
HOLLY says
So excited to try this recipe! Thank you for sharing!! =)
Cathy says
no print option?
Susie says
No- it’s something I want to add to my site but I don’t have a printable view at this point. You can always copy and paste the recipe into a word processing program to print it.
Danielle says
& i almost forgot! i’ll add vitamin e oil as well maybe from a capsule, just as a preservative.
Lisa says
HI, I was wondering if you could double the recipe as I’ve read some recipes you can’t double as it won’t work properly
Susie says
This recipe should work fine doubled!
Nancy says
Where do you get your bottles from? I have been looking for something similar but haven’t had any luck.
Susie says
I got one of them from target, I don’t think they still sell them. You can get similar ones on amazon
C says
Hi! I would like to make this recipe as my body sunscreen lotion (all over instead of two separate ones). Could you help me and tell me what the amounts should be changed to.
Thank you!
Susie says
Hi there. You can keep the same proportions of ingredients and just double the amount if you like. That should give you twice as much.
Amanda says
Hi thanks for posting this. Can you make it without the bees wax? I am looking for a vegan version please.
Thanks again
Cheers
Susie says
Hi Amanda,
You can use candelilla wax, but you only need to use about 1/2 as much as beeswax as it is harder.
Lianne says
Hi I’d like to ask what shea butter did you use? Refined or unrefined? What if the zinc oxide is non-nano is that ok??
Susie says
This is the shea butter I use. Non-nano zinc oxide is ok, that is what I use as well.
Sasha says
Hi there! I was wondering what heat your stove top should be when making this product?
Susie says
low-medium :)
Miel says
Hi there! I love the sunscreen recipe for the body. it works great. I’m excited to try to make this facial sunscreen! how many ounces does this recipe make?
Susie says
I believe it makes about 3-4 ounces.
Sharon says
can i use different oils to replace the the ones in the recipe?
Susie says
Yes, but the texture of the sunscreen would be different depending on which oils you use. Shea butter is quite thick, and jojoba is thick for a liquid oil. Replacing the shea would make a much thinner lotion.