Alexa PenaVega Says She Won’t Use Sunscreen But Still Likes Botox

Getty Alexa and Carlos PenaVega at a Hallmark event in 2018

On social media, Alexa PenaVega and her husband, fellow Hallmark Channel star Carlos PenaVega, often tout the benefits of their family’s all-natural lifestyle, from eating “clean” to using natural remedies for illnesses and injuries. Alexa, who also frequently shares her all-natural beauty secrets with fans, recently revealed some surprising choices when it comes to her skincare, including not using sunscreen on her or her kids, but eschewing her toxin-free regimen for Botox injections.

Alexa PenaVega Shares Why Her Family Doesn’t Use Sunscreen

GettyAlexa PenaVega attends Hallmark Media’s Countdown To Christmas event in October 2022

Alexa, 34, has been working in the entertainment industry since she was a child actor in the “Spy Kids” movies, so she’s tried lots of different treatments and strategies over the years to bolster her health and appearance, and even overcame an eating disorder that she told Fox News in 2022 “wrecked me for years.” Her own health journey and her experience as a parent inspired her to choose natural products whenever possible, frequently sharing supplements and other products with her social media followers.

In addition to having a home in Hawaii, the PenaVegas’ family of five — including six-year-old son Ocean, three-year-old son Kingston, and 20-month-old daughter Rio — also lives part-time on a catamaran along the Florida coast. In November, Alexa told her fans during an Instagram Live that the kids “just live in their underwear or bathing suits on the boat right now!”

With all that time in the sun and sea, one of Alexa’s fans recently asked what kind of sunscreen their family uses. The actress answered in a video via her Instagram Stories on January 20, 2023, that they no longer use it.

“I’m sure there will be many opinions on this,” Alexa laughed. “But for us, we decided to stop wearing sunscreen altogether. If it is way too hot and the sun is, like, unbearable and we don’t have an opportunity to get the kids inside, we just cover up.”

“We decided to do this after we took a deep dive into sunscreen,” Alexa continued. “And the more you deep dive, the more you learn about sunscreen, obviously, but what we also realized was how much food plays an effect on how the sun messes with your skin. Certain types, obviously. Hear the key word: seed oils.”

According to a study published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention — as explained by the Oncology Nurse Advisor website in 2018 — a “high intake of polyunsaturated fat may be associated with increased risk for certain subtypes” of skin cancer, meaning that eating foods with soybean, corn, and flax oils may increase the chance of developing melanoma and other skin cancers. This has fed into a widely-circulated theory that the consumption of seed oils is more to blame for sunburns and skin cancer than UV rays from the sun.

In response to the theories, Dr. Patricia Farris, a dermatologist and fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology, told CNN in 2019, “There are definitely foods that we eat that can boost our ability to protect our skin from the sun,” but that wearing a broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30 is the most important step towards skin protection, followed by cover-ups and diet.

In her Instagram Story, Alexa said she feels good about not using sunscreen on her family.

“I mean, we’ve been in the sun all day every day and we’re doing great,” she said.

Alexa PenaVega Says She Mainly Uses Natural Skin Products, But Still Relies on Botox

In a second video uploaded to her Instagram Stories on January 20, Alexa spoke to fans who’d said they feel bad about not being able to adopt a completely “natural lifestyle,” revealing that she gives herself some wiggle room for products she really likes — including Botox injections.

“I’m getting a lot of questions-slash-comments about people feeling kind of guilty about not going all-in with, like, a natural lifestyle,” Alexa said. “And, guys, look — if you can go all-in, that’s amazing. But I think you go in as much as you can. For us, we try to stick with natural, cleaner products across the board, so that way when we go out to dinner…we don’t feel very guilty.”

“For face products and stuff, I use very natural, clean face products,” she continued. “But then I do go and I get Botox because I feel better about my face after I get Botox. So there are little things that we all do.”

Alexa added, “I don’t necessarily need these things. I don’t need a pie. I don’t need a cake. I don’t need Botox, but these are little things that I do enjoy occasionally.”

In December 2021, Alexa also shared a video of herself getting a “lip brushing” procedure, according to Us Magazine, which is a form of cosmetic tattooing that tints a person’s lips.

Alexa’s next film is “A Paris Proposal” co-starring Nicholas Bishop. The Hallmark Channel movie premieres on February 11 at 8 pm Eastern.