Happy official summer! With the sun out in full force, it's especially important to remember to protect your skin from harmful sun-rays during time outside. It is also crucial to be aware of what type of sunscreen you and your family are using, as studies show that chemical sunscreens contain harmful ingredients that can have undesirable side-effects.

You may have heard that European regulations for sunscreens have changed, which means consumers will have a more difficult time finding natural sunscreen protection since many European brands of natural sunscreen have been forced to pull product off shelves. Manufacturers including Dr. Hauschka, Weleda and Sante Verde are a few that cannot meet the new guidelines that require certain levels of UVA protection that can be a difficult feat for mineral sunscreens to attain using only natural ingredients.

However, Lavera has re-formulated its sunscreen products to meet these high standards while staying natural. Our sunscreens with the new formulations will be available Spring 2010 and remain 100 percent natural, with no synthetic ingredients. In the mean time, we will continue our commitment to provide consumers with the highest quality sunscreen products — minus the harmful ingredients.

Learn more about the importance of choosing a natural sunscreen, as well as other natural skin care and makeup products, in our Education section. We want this site to be a source of information for you and the ones you care about. Let us know what you think and if there are any topics you'd like to see covered in the future. Thanks for visiting!