Beyond Coastal Sun Care – Product Review

Always on the look out for a more natural and safer sunscreen for myself and my children, I was thrilled that Beyond Coastal gave me a chance to review some of their products.

I have tried a number of brands in the past but Beyond Coastal is definitely one of the best that I have tried so far.

They gave me Active Sunscreen SPF 30+, Natural Clear SPF 30, Active Face Stick, Natural Lip and Face Screen SPF 30, and a variety of flavors of their new line of flavored lip balm to try. Here are my thoughts:
Active Sunscreen SPF 30+

This sweat and water resistant, non-mineral broad spectrum UVA/UVB protection sunscreen is gluten free (great news for my son) and also free of all those nasty oxybenzone, paraben and petroleum stuff which, though not conclusively proven, has me worried about what chemicals and toxins are entering my body through my skin.

So it doesn’t contain any of those nasty chemicals, so what does it contain? Healing aloe vera, revitalizing green tea, nourishing Vitamins C and E, moisturizing shea butter, soothing yerba mate, hydrating panthenol and algae extract is enough to make any skin happy. The sun protection (active ingredients) come from octinoxate, octisalate (that gives it that lightly sweet scent), octocrylene and avobenzone (which protects against UVA rays). Ocinoxate makes up the majority of the active ingredients at about 7.5% and avobenzone makes up only 2%.

I liked that it has no noticible scent and that it applied invisibly to my skin and after 5 minutes when I checked again, it was almost unnoticeable. No white residue.

As some of the active ingredients (such as Avobenzone) start to degrade within an hour when exposed to UV rays, Beyond Coastal added Solistay to prolong and stabilize its effectiveness. As I burn easily, I will be curious to try it this summer and find out how effective it is at keeping my fair skin from turning an unflattering strawberry color. I like this sunscreen because of how quickly it disappeared on my skin, how a little went a long way, that it had no scent and that it was water resistant. I am not wild about the fact that it still contains octocrylene (4% of the active ingredients) which some studies have linked with increased incidences of malignant melanoma.

Natural Clear Sunscreen SPF 30
If your plan for the day is to cheer on your favorite team, a stroll in the park with your best friend (be it four footed or two) or taking a spin in a convertible then this is the sunscreen of choice. It is a good everyday sunscreen which one can easily apply makeup over it without the makeup caking and no one will know that your skin is protected (even without makeup).

What makes Natural Clear Sunscreen a good every day sunscreen is that it only has one active ingredient (the very safe and non-toxic zinc oxide). It also nourishes your skin with rose hip oil, jojoba seed oil and shea butter.It repairs and hydrates with cococa seed butter, alpha lipoic acid (an anti-oxidant), pro vitamin B, algea extract, and aloe vera.

Fragrance free like the other sunscreens, it has only a very faint sweet smell. The zinc oxide sits on the skin’s surface and is not absorbed into the skin while protecting the skin from both UVA and UVB ultraviolet rays and is not destroyed by the sun like some other sunscreen ingredients.

I like this sunscreen because it absorbs so quickly into the skin and leaves no noticeable residue while still giving my skin powerful protection against the sun. I also love the active ingredient list. Even though the sun protection will rub off with a towel, wash off while swimming, and sweat away when exercising, I think the hassle of frequent application is worth it because of the lower risk of strange (and potentially harmful) things being absorbed into the skin.

Natural Lip and Face Screen

I did not like the Natural lip and Face Screen. Even after 10 minutes there was still a noticeable white sheen on the skin. It has a very light, hardly noticeable scent and comes in a tub which meant that the sunscreen got under my nails.
The active ingredients are in equal amounts Titanium Dioxide (which does get absorbed into the skin) and Zinc Oxide (which stays on the surface of the skin). For moisturizing and hydration of the skin there is aloe vera, coconut oil, safflower oil, Vitamin C and E, Shea butter, beeswax and Mango butter.

Like the other sunscreens by Beyond Coastal it is gluten free, and Paraben and Petroleum free. It offers strong UVB and UVA protection but I still prefer Natural Clear Sunscreen SPF 30+.

Active Face Stick

The Active Sunscreen Face Stick’s biggest advantage is that one can apply it without getting one’s hands greasy. It comes in a stick form (kind of like deodorant) and is great for people who don’t want their hands to be slippery every time they apply sunscreen. One could apply this sunscreen half way up a cliff face and still be fine to keep on going.

It has a pleasant unobtrusive scent. Easy no-mess application, no drip, no sunscreen in the eye, no inhalation (like with spray-ons) and no greasy fingers.

After 10 minutes the face still felt sticky and greasy to the touch (but not more so then most normal sunscreens).

The active ingredients are Avobenzone, homosalate, octinoxate and octocrylene (boo!). It nourishes and hydrates with aloe vera, Vitamin E, Beeswax, shea butter, yerba mate, and orange oil extract (which gives it a light hint of citrus scent).

If I was in any sort of active sport which would make slippery hands dangerous then I would use this product. It is water and sweat resistant and oxybenzone, paraben and petroleum free but it still contains octocrylene which turns me off.

SPF 15 Active Lip Balm


Coming in four fun flavors (Citrus Grove, Mint Leaf, Cherry Blossom, and Vanilla Bean) these Active lip balms nourish and hydrate (beeswax, aloe vera, shea butter and yerba mate) while giving your lips protection (octinoxate, octisalate, octocrylene, avobenzone) against UVB and UVA rays. I normally don’t go for scented lip balms as I find them too cloyingly sweet but that was not the case with this brand. Applied to dry, slightly chapped lips it instantly gave relief and moisturized my lips leaving them feeling luscious. They stayed on even after drinking some tea and giving my husband a kiss (he didn’t mind the scent either). It left my lips feeling smooth and not sticky and kept them soft throughout the day.


by Thamar A.
The Outdoor Adventure Team


Products provided by http://www.beyondcoastal.com/