thinksport/LIVESTRONG Sunscreen SPF 30+

With so many sunscreens sporting more toxins than protection, it can be a real challenge to decide whether it is less risky to forgo it altogether. But then, in the back of your mind, the skin cancer questionwill always remain - nipping at you slowly but surely. And for those of us with aesthetic concerns, the idea of sun spots and wrinkles creeps in as an all too definite reality without sunscreen. What's a person to do?

LIVESTRONG and thinksport are making it a lot easier on us! How, you ask? They've developed a "formulation that is already top ranked for safe sunscreen by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) and is free of biologically harmful chemicals." The active ingredient is non-nano zinc oxide (20%) and this sunscreen is ranked safe (1-2) by the EWG.

Since zinc oxide is a physical sunscreen (meaning it blocks sun rays by reflecting them), it can be quite unattractive as solid cream on the skin. To minimize the opaque nature of zinc oxide, it is typically scaled down to 30 to 200 nm. This allows for less noticeable application to the skin, but still keeps it large enough not to cross through the skin (such as happens with nano-particles). According to the LiveStrong website and SmartSkinCare, "zinc oxide has a slight edge over titanium dioxide. While titanium dioxide is effective at blocking ultraviolet-B and short-wave ultraviolet-A rays, it is less effective than zinc dioxide at blocking long ultraviolet-A rays. Zinc oxide's ability to block different types of rays makes it one of the most effective sun protection products on the market at fighting the sun's rays. Zinc oxide is often combined with additional ultraviolet-B blockers to provide the most complete broad-spectrum sunscreen." The thinksport website has plenty of useful information to absorb too, including the differences between chemical and physical sunscreens, the truth about SPF ratings, and what's up with nanoparticles and why you should be very careful about your product purchases. You can read all about it here (scroll down to the "what else you might want to know" section!
With sunny weather quickly becoming the norm, we have been applying the thinksport/LIVESTRONG suncreen for a few weeks now and have found it to be very effective! Not only is it water-resistant, it has a SPF of 30+. Of course, the higher the SPF, the more protection a sunscreen offers against UV-B (sunburn). So this means that you can stay in the sun over 30 times longer than you would normally be able to without getting burned! At the modest price of $15.99, your wallet will be just as happy as your protected skin! And as if that wasn't awesome enough, the purchase of this product guarantees a minimum $1.5 million donation towards the fight against cancer!

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Lifefactory Glass Beverage Bottles

Glass is a trusted material that has been used for years throughout houses and the world! It is 100% recyclable and negates worries of toxic chemicals leached by many plastics. The glass and polypropylene cap can be recycled curbside in most cities, while the silicone sleeve may be shipped back to Lifefactory for recycling.

Glass is also taste-friendly, and does not hold odors or stains like plastics or metals can do. And if you're someone who weighs the social impacts along with environmental impacts in your purchases, you'll be happy to know that these bottles are made in France, Poland, and the USA. 

The sleeve is removable, but the entire bottle is dishwasher-safe or easily rinsed in the sink. After many washes, it still looks like new and we have not experienced any problems such as cracking of the silicone or fading. The bottle we tested is lovingly known as the "grape bottle" in our house, due to it's royal purple sleeve with circle cut-outs - and we absolutely adore it's design!

But....if you're like me, you're a bit hesitant to hand your child anything made of glass for fear of it shattering and cutting little fingers. It took me a few days of using this water bottle on my own to overcome this fear. First of all, the silicone sleeve does a great job of providing grip and lessening the chance of dropping. Secondly, the sleeve wraps around the entire bottle including the base edges, meaning that if and when you accidentally drop it, it is unlikely to break easily. 

I found myself becoming more careless with its handling as the days went on, treating it more like one of our metal bottles, but it did not break. I'm confident in recommending this to our readers because it really performed exceptionally well and has so many benefits that you cannot find outside of glass. You may love it as we do, or you may not, but one thing is sure -- you need to give it the chance to impress you!

Available in a wide variety of colors (15+) and sizes (4-22oz).

Price: $12.49 - 21.99 US

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Art-inspired, Stainless Steel Bottles from Earthlust

Hydration with style.

Description: All bottles are custom designs - not stock bottles - mostly limited edition - new art is always arriving! Each bottle comes with a high quality carabineer (hook to attach to belt loop, backpack, or bag strap). Optional sports tops are available for all sizes.

Ingredients: Stainless steel (18/8), non-toxic paints, BPA-free polypropylene caps

Available sizes: 16 oz, 20 oz, 1 liter

Prices: $16/ 18/ $21 US

These days, everywhere you look, there is a reusable water bottle on the shelf at the store. Most people assume the toughest decision they need to consider when buying one is the price and what pattern they want. The problem is, they are NOT all created equally as far as quality and materials go. In fact, many are coated with plastic (no, you cannot tell just by looking at them), decorated with likely toxic paints, and most people cannot tell the difference between aluminum, stainless steel, or other mixed metals. The problem with this being that there are safety and contamination concerns with many mined metals. Case in point, you are likely going to be using this item quite often and you don't want to be drinking tainted water.


Earthlust is a well-known and trusted company that not only supplies uncoated, high quality stainless steel bottles, but they are stylish as well! You can effectively have your cake and eat it too (or drink it)! For our review, we stored away our beloved Kleen Kanteens and used Earthlust's 20 oz bottle in green parsley (shown) for two weeks. Immediately, we noticed several key benefits to the Earthlust bottle:

• Earthlust 20 oz bottles are tall and skinny! This means they easily fit into standard cupholders where many other brands of reusable bottles do not!
• The cap doesn't have any hidden internal ridges, so it's much easier than other brands to clean and it doesn't collect dirty water/particles in the dishwasher!
• With the included clip, it never got left behind because it was attached to the diaper bag, purse, backpack, or belt loop always!

On top of the differences mentioned above, we also found that the Earthlust bottles do not dent as easily as most others we have tested,  the external paint coating does not chip easily, and the artsy design really is appealing. You can display your personality and mood by selecting the best fitting water bottle for that day, much like you would accessorize with a pair of shoes or purse, you can now express yourself with your water bottle!

 

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