Worry Less and Enjoy the Sun More
Sun Facts
Why Mineral Sunscreen
Proven Safe and Effective
Discover the Benefits of Minerals
We believe that the more time you spend outside, the happier you’ll be.
So concerns over sun protection shouldn’t spoil the fun!
The fact is, most sunscreens use all sorts of toxic chemicals to keep burns at bay.
These chemicals can irritate sensitive skin and harm our coral reefs.
But there’s a better option out there, and we’re here to share it with you.
We want to make things easier for people like you who want to do the best thing possible by their families and the world around them.
That’s why we’re dedicated to making effective products that are safe for sensitive skin and the environment.
It’s also why we’re sharing all the information you need to understand how Goddess Garden is a cut above the rest (and reef safe).
In today’s world, it seems like we constantly hear messages about “going natural,” but what are the actual benefits of a natural sunscreen?
The conventional sunscreen you have purchased your whole life works just fine at preventing sunburn, but take a look at the ingredients on the bottle of last summer’s sunblock.
If you find ingredients such as oxybenzone, octinoxate, or even isobutane, you may want to consider the purchase of Goddess Garden’s mineral sunscreen instead.
The ingredients we use in Goddess Garden products are why natural sunscreens are the best choice for you and your family.
We include natural sunscreen ingredients such as sunflower and radish, and active ingredients like zinc and titanium.
These natural ingredients are every bit as effective as those found in conventional sunscreens, and in many ways, natural sunscreens are actually more effective than conventional sunscreens.
Here’s why:
Some of the most common chemical sunscreens, oxybenzone and octinoxate, have been linked to the destruction of our coral reefs.
This damage can occur even at very low concentrations of these chemicals in the water. Because of this, they’ve even been banned in placed like Hawaii, Key West, Bonaire and the Republic of Palau.
Minerals, on the other hand, are reef safe, so do not harm reef environments and the vast life they support.
Because minerals sit on top of your skin, they act like a mirror and reflect UV rays away from your body.
The active ingredients in chemical sunscreens actually absorb into the skin, where they disperse the UV rays in your body as less harmful energy.
They can also be found in the bloodstream following use, so the FDA is conducting research to ensure those ingredients are safe for use.
At the same time, proposed rules from the FDA recognized zinc and titanium dioxide as being safe and effective.
Because minerals aren’t absorbed, they’re safe for sensitive skin and do not end up in your bloodstream.
When you apply mineral sunscreen, you can go out into the sun immediately without worrying about sunburn.
With chemical sunscreens, you need to wait 15 to 20 minutes before it protects you from the sun.
This is because it takes time for the chemicals to absorb into the skin and become “active.”
Since our minerals sit on top of our skin, they’re effective immediately!
We want to make it easy to protect both people and the planet.
That means creating formulas that don’t irritate sensitive skin, pose threats to our health or harm our marine environments!
Just take it from Nova, our founder: “I started Goddess Garden because my daughter Paige was allergic to conventional body care products.
Because of that, we only ever use the most effective and gentle ingredients to create our products.
You will never find chemical actives like oxybenzone or octinoxate in our sunscreens, because our families deserve better and our environment does, too.”
All sunscreens are required by the FDA to pass very specific tests.
We’re happy to comply because the safety of our customers is our top priority.
You can see our test results by clicking the links above, and learn a little more below about how the tests are performed, how they work and what they measure.
There are two main types of UV rays: UVA rays (those responsible for aging and other damage) and UVB rays (those responsible for burning).
Think of the “A” in UVA as standing for aging, and the “B” in UVB as standing for burning.
UVA Tests (Aging Rays)
UVA rays penetrate further into the skin and can contribute to the look of aging.
Because the damage isn’t immediately visible, the FDA uses a test called the Critical Wavelength Method.
It’s often referred to as a UVA test, but it really tests to see if a product protects across the spectrum, or is “broad spectrum.”
This test is not done on people, but is instead done in vitro.
An even layer of sunscreen is applied to a roughened PMMA (acrylic) plate and exposed to UV light.
This test measures the percent of the total spectrum a product protects from by determining how much of the UVA/UVB light gets through.
According to the FDA, sunscreens can be classified as “broad spectrum” only when their critical wavelength is longer than 370 nm.
OUR SUNSCREEN FAR EXCEEDS THE FDA’s CRITICAL WAVELENGTH TEST REQUIREMENT, AND COME IN AT 375.87 nm.
UVB Tests (Burning Rays)
We all likely know about UVB rays. These are the ones that cause burns and are the main reason people use sunscreen.
The FDA’s Sun Protection Factor (SPF) test is much easier since the results of UVB exposure are visible to the eye.
To measure water resistance at the same time as SPF, this test has people sit in a hot tub for a length of time after applying sunscreen.
Once they get out, they are exposed to UV light. After time, redness is measured and compared. Because people are different, the test is designed to be individual as well.
The SPF rating is the amount of time it would take you to sunburn if you were not wearing sunscreen, as opposed to the time it would take with sunscreen on.
ALL OUR SUNSCREENS MEET OR EXCEED OUR LISTED SPF 30 LABEL.