I was contacted by Block Island to see if I would do a review of their organic sunscreen product. I am a firm believer in lots of sun protection, so I was happy to do this.
Block Island is a family-owned USA company that makes a line of organic skin care products from moisturizers to sunscreen. The sunscreen is made with natural mineral sunblockers. According to their website, there are 2 different types of sunscreens: Mineral and chemical. Chemical sunscreens absorb UV rays. A mineral sunscreen prevents the rays from reaching the skin by scattering them (like with zinc or titanium dioxide). Both types of sunscreen protect against UVA and UVB rays.
You all know I am really pale, so I wear a lot of sunscreen when we go biking (and other times). While it would be ideal to go out with full sleeves and no skin showing for protection, that just isn’t practical in the summer. 😀 I wear a high SPF because I will burn in about 10-15 minutes without protection at noon. With that said, studies have shown that anything over 30 doesn’t give you exponentially better protection, so you are better off with a 30 and and reapplying several times. I don’t have a preference as to mineral or chemical sunscreens, as long as they work.
The active mineral sunscreen protection in this product is Zinc.
The Block Island is a little thinner than other sunscreens that I use:
Here is after one swipe with my thumb:
The thinness of this makes it easy to squirt too much out of the container, so be careful with that.
The sunscreen rubs in easily and is not greasy at all, which is a huge plus for me. Even with the zinc, it doesn’t show on the skin, although after I was sweating a lot while riding, I noticed some white lines in the crook of my arms.
While this says there are no artificial fragrances, it does have a scent to it. One is the smell of the zinc – that sunscreen smell. The other is the very faint scent of eucalyptus. There is eucalytpus oil in it and it gives just a hint of the menthol. I was sniffing my arm several times after applying each time (I am sure the people in Saratoga were wondering what I was doing) and could just catch a whiff of it.
So, how does it work? No burns at all! I applied before we left for Saratoga and then applied again before riding home. We spent a good 4 hours in the sun. Proof is that I missed about a 1 inch section on one thigh at the top of my bike shorts (probably because they rode up a little) and I have a small stripe of red there from sunburn. Nowhere else. I used this on my arms, legs, neck, throat, ears and face. It did not cause any breakouts so far, either.
So, if you are looking for an organic mineral sunscreen, this will certainly do the job.
This 3.4 ounce bottle is normally $19.99, but there is a sale going on through Father’s Day where it is $15.99. Good timing on this review, I guess! This seems a little above average for organic suncare on the market.
Whatever you use, protect that skin!
Disclaimer: Block Island sent me this sunscreen product free of charge to review. All opinions are mine, good and bad. I don’t receive any compensation if you purchase from them.
I don’t really know the circumstances of the company, but I like how they are going about getting some exposure in kind of a grass roots effort. When you don’t have a Coke-sized advertising budget it is good to think outside the box. Thanks for sharing the review. I’m not sure we’ll ever need sunscreen again in the Midwest. Please stop raining!!!!!
They own a spa and the skin care products grew out of that.
We got a fair bit of rain, but we needed it here.
I got the giant economy size of that sunscreen that you previously showed on your blog. I don’t think I’ll need to buy sunscreen again in my entire life!
Even though we live in sunny Texas (well, when it’s not RAINING like now), I don’t actually spend much time in the sun because it’s too hot. Sunscreen lasts me a long time; this one is a little expensive, but considering I wouldn’t have to buy it more than once a year, it doesn’t seem that bad. I’m into less chemicals on my skin – didn’t know about mineral sunscreen, so thanks for the head’s up on this. 🙂
The cost of that is about twice as much as other sunscreens, but it’s organic so I’m not even surprised. My nephew actually cannot use chemical sunscreens so I’m going to pass this information on to my sister!
I am wishing I had been better about applying sunscreen in my teen years because it’s showing on my skin now! Eek. I will be faithful in making sure my little girl knows to always apply sunscreen. This looks like good stuff and I love that it’s organic.