Should people be making sunscreen from scratch? Most people know the model and content creator Nara Smith and that she is well known for creating videos of herself making mainly food from scratch.
With a following of almost nine million on TikTok alone, it’s clear that people cannot get enough of her content. Not only because of her impeccable sense of fashion or soft soothing voice but also because of her cooking tips.
While she mostly sticks to food preparation, she and her model husband Lucky Blue Smith, recently decided to try something new.
In one of her recent videos, they share their recipe for DIY sunscreen.
“We've been spending a lot of time outside by the pool, and I realised we ran out of sunscreen,” Nara narrates.
While followers are accustomed to seeing Nara doing the cooking, this time, it's Lucky behind the kitchen counter.
To make the homemade sunscreen, he mixes coconut oil, beeswax, shea butter, cocoa butter, and jojoba oil in a bowl and then melts it all down on the stove.
Once the ingredients are melted and combined, he adds zinc oxide powder from an undisclosed source to the bowl and mixes it with a whisk before transferring it to a small glass jar and placing it into the fridge to solidify.
Smith’s video has been viewed more than 20 million times and she endorses the product in the video, saying: “We all burn pretty easily, so we went with something with a little bit more SPF.”
@naraazizasmith 🤍 #fypツ #easyrecipe #sun #fromscratch #skincare #marriage ♬ Just Give Me One More Day - Alej
At no point in the aesthetically pleasing video does any one of them mention the SPF factor of the homemade sunscreen.
Yes, most store-bought sunscreens do contain zinc but does adding some zinc powder to a concoction actually do anything to protect your skin from the sun?
Minus the zinc powder, the mixture can indeed make a pretty good moisturiser.
Sunscreens are used to protect the skin from the harmful effects of the sun.
They help to prevent sunburn and premature ageing. Sunscreens also help to decrease the risk of skin cancer
IOL spoke to Dr Alek Nikolic, a renowned medical doctor in aesthetic medicine, to find out more about the risks involved in making sunscreen from scratch.
Nikolic said making sunscreen using natural ingredients is in no way a good idea.
“It might be appealing, but it’s not the safest choice,” he says.
He goes on to list some risks involved in making your own sunscreen.
He says that not knowing the degree of any sun protection can increase the risk of skin cancer and skin ageing.
Not knowing how stable the homemade sunscreen is determines how effective the product will be and over what period.
The fact that the mixture isn’t sterile can possibly cause inflammation to the skin.
And because it’s not a tested product you don’t know how the skin will react.
Some of the greatest dangers of using homemade sunscreen are that you will be predisposing yourself to skin cancer and another is accelerating skin ageing.
“In order to make your own sunscreen you need to understand the pharmacology of the skin and the interaction with the ingredients chosen. You need to do the necessary stability testing as well as add the necessary ingredients to keep the sunscreen sterile,” he recommends.
He does however say that it’s best to stick to approved sunscreens.
“Very simply you know what you are getting. If the label states a SPF 30 then we know how much protection this offers our skin type. Also, the expiry label will determine the stability period. And finally, numerous tests have been performed before going to market so skin reactions are reduced to a minimum.”
Soon after the video was posted it came under criticism from dermatologists.
Among the critics of her recipe was dermatologist Aamna Adel.
She took to TikTok to share her opinion on the matter.
“Every sunscreen on the market undergoes rigorous testing, and that’s to make sure that it’s actually protecting you from UV and most importantly, it’s stopping you from burning,” Adel said.
“If you’re making a DIY sunscreen at home you literally have no idea how much protection it’s giving you. It could be SPF2, it could be SPF 10, it’s anyone’s guess. Homemade bubble tea? Yes. Homemade sunscreen? No.”
@aamnaadel I love @Nara Smith 🤍💕but this is why you shouldnt make homemade SPF… on a side note do we believe she actually makes her own SPF? 👀 #dermatologist #dradel #spf #sunscreen #homemadespf #narasmith #skintok #skincare #skincareroutine #productreview #dermreacts #foryou #fyp ♬ original sound - Dr Adel | Dermatologist
Cosmetic chemist, @alaynasbeautylab, took to the app as well to warn people against making sunscreen at home.
“Sunscreens are drugs in the United States and for really good reason. A drug is anything that prevents a disease or can heal a disease. That’s what sunscreens do. They specifically prevent skin cancer. Sunscreen is not your everyday skincare product,” she comments.
@alaynasbeautylab @Nara Smith you really are ✨that girlll✨but not that chemist 😞 I promise it’s safer to use any sunscreen of your choice in stores! They are strictly regualted for safety!! #narasmithspf #narasunscreen #narasmithsunscreen #homemadesunscreen #cosmeticchemist #publichealth @Nara Smith ♬ original sound - alaynasbeautylab
She continues to say that the products need to be compounded and formulated in a sterile lab and by people who specialise in the pharmaceutical industry.
IOL