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Reviews > Health & Safety > Sunscreens and Skin Protection > Goddess Garden Organics Sunny Body > Test Report by Bob Dorenfeld

Goddess Garden Organics Sunny Body Natural Sunscreen
TEST SERIES By Bob Dorenfeld

Initial Report: October 18, 2013
  Long Term Report:  March 17, 2014


TESTER INFORMATION
Name 
Email 
Age 
  Location 
 
Gender 
Height 
Weight 
 Bob Dorenfeld
 geartest(at)sageandspruce(dot)net
 56
 Central Colorado, USA  
 M
 5' 6" (1.68 m)
 140 lb (62 kg)
I'm an active hiker, snowshoer, skier, backpacker, amateur geographer and naturalist. Home base is the Southern Colorado Rockies, where I usually journey from 7000 ft (2100 m) to above treeline, with occasional desert trips to lower altitudes. Six to 12 miles (10 to 20 km) hiking in a day is my norm, including elevation change of as much as 4000 ft (1200 m) in a day. Most of my backpack trips are two or three nights, sometimes longer. Often I hike off-trail on challenging talus, snowfields, or willow brakes, with occasional bouldering.


INITIAL REPORT

Product Information

Goddess Garden Organics Sunny Body
Photo: Goddess Garden Organics
Manufacturer Goddess Garden Organics
Manufacturer's Website www.goddessgarden.com
Product
Sunny Body Natural Sunscreen SPF30
Year of Manufacture
2013
MSRP
US$14.99
Package Contents Weight 3.4 oz (100 ml)
Package Type Squeeze Tube

                    Sunny Body Natural Sunscreen SPF30 is offered by
Goddess Garden Organics as an alternative to other sunscreens on the market containing ingredients that may be harmful or undesirable on the skin or in the body.  The two primary active ingredients listed on the package are titanium dioxide and zinc oxide, making up 6.4% and 6.0% of the sunscreen respectively; these compounds are commonly found in sunscreens.  Scanning the longer list of inactive ingredients I see some other common compounds using aloe vera, shea butter, and xanthan gum.  But I noted several uncommon inactive ingredients such as extracts of aspen bark and two species of honeysuckle, and radish root "ferment filtrate"; I am not yet sure what role these last four inactive ingredients play.  This sunscreen is rated at Broad Spectrum SPF 30 (50 is the maximum SPF number allowed by law in the United States).  The package notes that its contents are 92% organic ingredients, certified by Quality Assurance International.  Other manufacturing processes are addressed by package labels reading Free of Chemical Sunscreens, Biodegradable, Cruelty Free, Reef Safe, and Non-GMO.  Goddess Garden states that this sunscreen is resistant to water (swimming or sweating) for 40 minutes after application.  The package lid has a flip-top to allow squirting through a small hole, and the entire lid can be screwed off for applying larger amounts through a 3/8 in (1 cm) exit.


Some Initial Impressions

Allow me to begin by saying that I'm not a big fan of sunscreens - mainly because I just don't like putting stuff on my skin.  But since I recognize the importance of protecting skin against sun damage, especially at the high altitudes at which I live and hike, I'm always looking for a skin protector that doesn't feel too greasy and doesn't contain potentially unhealthy ingredients.  I start by shaking the Sunny Body tube (as recommended by a label on the side), then squeezing a bit of sunscreen onto the back of my hand and rubbing it in, noting how quickly it's absorbed into my skin - pretty fast, in less than a minute.  I can feel a slight smoothness where the lotion was rubbed in, and a bit of residue on my fingers.  There is a faint but pleasant lavender odor, not overwhelming - at least from this small section of skin.  Despite the presence of both titanium dioxide and zinc oxide I can't see any white cast on my hand.  About ten minutes later I can still smell the lavender but can't feel any lotion residue (that's good!); after more than an hour I can't smell anything of the sunscreen.

On my upcoming hiking trips I'll cover up with with more of the sunscreen and test how it feels and works while exposed to the sun.

Please check back in about four months for my Long Term Test results.

LONG TERM REPORT

In the five months since I began testing this Goddess Garden sunscreen I've used up most of the first tube.  I would have used the second tube as well if the testing period had been during the warmer months when I expose more bare skin (arms, legs).  With one exception, all of my testing has been in the Colorado Rockies at altitudes between 7000 and 12,500 ft (2100 and 3800 m), at temperatures from 10 to 70 F (-12 to 21 C), in sunny to cloudy conditions.  The one test outside of the Rockies was in the Sonoran Desert of southern Arizona, where the sun is higher in the sky and late-winter temperatures poked into the 80s F (high 20s C).

Bottom line - I like this product!  The lavender scent is very pleasant and never overwhelming, and it fades fairly quickly: within an hour I hardly noticed it.  The lotion applies easily and quickly, and since I prefer not to get it on my fingers I like the way it spreads using my forearm or back of my hand.  I've started using it on the tips of my ears as well when I'm not wearing a wide-brim hat.  Because this product uses titanium and zinc oxides, it does leave a whitish cast on my skin, which for me is not a problem (nor was it for a friend, who likes to apply her sunscreen very abundantly).  Near the beginning of this test (and for my Initial Impressions, see section above) I tended to err on the stingy side when applying the sunscreen, but over time I graduated to using a more liberal amount to be sure I was really protecting my skin adequately.

Like any topical product, moisture in the form of sweat or water will wash the sunscreen off the skin, so it's good to periodically check and re-apply when necessary (Goddess Garden suggests reapplying after 40 minutes of water or sweat interference).  I only had to do this once,
within two hours of initial application, due to high humidity.  But over a long day's hike (even in low exertion or low humidity) I didn't mind reapplying to the more sensitive areas like the tops of my arms or back of my neck when, by feel, it seemed that the first layer had mostly been washed or rubbed off.

I conducted one comparison test by liberally applying the sunscreen to one arm, and none to the other arm, then hiking in part to full sun conditions for four hours.  I could easily see the difference between my protected and unprotected skin - the latter wasn't burned, but was redder and more sensitive to the touch.

Now that my part of the world is going into spring and summer I'm sure I'll be using up the rest of my test supply.

PROS
  • easy to apply
  • pleasant, but not overwhelming, lavender scent
  • stays on the skin for 2-4 hours under moderate conditions, longer if skin remains dry
  • contains relatively safe ingredients as a topical mineral application
  • no expiration date
CONS
  • leaves a whitish cast on the skin, which may be a problem for some users



Acknowledgments

Thanks to BGT and to Goddess Garden Organics for the opportunity to test their sunscreen.






Read more reviews of Goddess Garden Organics gear
Read more gear reviews by Bob Dorenfeld

Reviews > Health & Safety > Sunscreens and Skin Protection > Goddess Garden Organics Sunny Body > Test Report by Bob Dorenfeld



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