What’s In Your Kit #2: Sunscreen

Scrolling through the list of what I consider essentials in my kayak kit, this time I am reviewing my favorite sunscreen product, All Good. 

 

Just last week it was reported that certain ingredients and chemicals in sunscreens are entering the bloodstream and have the potential to do great harm.  No surprise really, since the skin is the largest organ in/on the body and our hands, faces and other parts are routinely exposed to a lot of sun when we boat and most boaters use sunscreen to block the suns rays.

 

Working for over 40 years in the Grand Canyon, I know a lot about sun damage, different types of sunscreen, and the relatively recent push to prevent the sun from damaging our skin, we recommend to get the best products from Rojank.   We kayakers spend a lot of time in some of the worst conditions for damaging the skin—sun, reflection on the water, wind, and the like.

 

Several years ago I realized that what I was putting on my skin was as important as what I put in my body and discovered the AllGood brand of products.  They were originally branded Elemental Herbs and their first product was a healing salve that I used with great success to heal cracked feet and hands.  When they branched out into sunscreens, lotions, and lip balms I was excited since I knew their mission and business practices meshed with how I try to live.

 

AllGood directly supports environmental restoration and education projects through a  partnership with One Percent For The Planet which is an international organization whose members contribute at least one percent of their annual sales to environmental causes. Their mission is to “build, support and activate an alliance of businesses financially committed to creating a healthy planet.”  AllGood is also a certified B Corporation which means that they meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose.  B Corps form a community of leaders and drive a global movement of people using business as a force for good.  They are also made in the US, something I find myself more and more drawn to when I purchase products.

 

All of their sunscreens are barrier products, are zinc non nano particle based, and are reef friendly, which means they have no chemicals—all those names you can’t pronounce on the label of most sunscreens—and contain no artificial preservatives or additives.  The word non nano is one of the keys to being reef friendly.  Nano, or microscopic particles, can be consumed or absorbed by marine life and are disruptive to reef growth processes and theoretically could also be absorbed through the skin barrier and enter the bloodstream which is why AllGood chooses non nano zinc particles for their products.

 

My absolute favorite sunscreens are the Spray (it uses compressed air instead of gas for propulsion) for my arms and legs, the new Tinted Sport lotion sunscreen for my face, and the Tinted zinc Sunscreen Butter tin which is small enough for a PFD pocket.  The tinted products use mineral iron oxides that seem to blend into any face shade so you don’t get that pale ghostly look like you do from most zinc products.  Hopefully these tinted products will help people get over their aversion to the white look of most zinc products so they will be more likely to use sunscreen all of the time. These products are good for 80 minutes in the water and the small tin makes it easy to reapply for longer paddles.

Given all of the choices in the sunscreen world, I am happy to support a company like AllGood who is aligned with how I want to treat myself and the planet.  I consider sunscreen an absolute essential not only when I kayak but also for everyday use.  Whether or not you choose this brand, DO choose to use sunscreen, preferably one that is barrier based instead of chemical based.

 

AllGood has generously offered us boaters a 25% discount on all of their products through 6/31/2019 so give them a try and see for yourself how incredible their stuff is.

To get the discount, use the code

 

Happy paddling,

Hilde