It’s that time of year again. Hot summer days spent by the pool and decisions about what sunscreen to buy. I don’t know about you, but sometimes there are just too many choices. And then there are all those articles you see on social media about what works and what doesn’t. And how scary are the articles about the ones that don’t? I have created this sunscreen review based on my personal experience with what I bought this season. I hope you will find it helpful.
I recently read about a baby who developed second degree burn on her face because her sunscreen had failed. So scary. It really got me thinking about some of the all natural formulations and their power to protect against our deteriorating ozone layer, increased sun exposure and increased diagnoses of skin cancer.
I wish this was something we didn’t have to to worry about. In fact, sometimes I think that being a mom in the 1970’s would have been a lot easier. There wouldn’t have been all this knowledge about food allergies, chemicals, sickness and disease. We wouldn’t be using wet wipes, and cart wipes and poop wipes every chance we got. It seems like it was a much more worry-free mom life. But then again, our moms probably had plenty of other things to worry about, you know since no one had to wear seat belts back then.
But I am a mom of today. A mom in the time where food allergies are on the rise, children have poor gut health, people are constantly on electronic devices and cancer still doesn’t have a cure.
So we must apply the sunscreen
Since having Miles, baby number 2, I have had to pay extra close attention to what I apply on his skin because of his severe eczema as a baby. He is extremely better since I eliminated dairy, but sometimes just the slightest change could trigger a bit of a flare up.
So as we headed for vacation this year I was forced to pick a couple of different brands to make sure I could find one that would not cause a break out. I actually bought more because there were so many choices, but I ended up returning them before we left.
I used a different brand each day and here is my brief review of each one.
California Baby
I have used this for years with Grant and although I love the coverage and the fact that he has never been burned, the face stick is so hard to spread and the lotion is so greasy and thick. It also completely turns him white and it is impossible to wash off in the shower. I am currently only able to find this at Cotton Babies. Amazon has it but the prices are obscene. My guess is because they have limited availability.
Babyganics
This seemed like good coverage and it was easier to apply. It did not turn Grant as white as the California Baby. I purchased this at Target. I don’t really have a strong opinion about this one. But it was also hard to wash off in the shower.
Sun Bum
This was my absolute favorite to apply. It was smooth and absorbed into the skin so nicely. It has a bunch of good for the skin ingredients in it so it felt really good, Grant complained that he felt wet😬. I am not sure about the coverage. I kept feeling like the boys were getting pink and I ended up covering them in California Baby in the afternoon. I found this at Target.
Garden Goddess
I bought the spray and it was like spraying white streaks all over Grant’s body and I could hardly rub it in. I don’t usually buy sprays so this was a leap for me. I can’t speak to it’s ability to protect because I stopped applying it since I could not rub it in. I bought this at Whole Foods.
Badger
This was Grant’s favorite. It was easy to apply and dried very quickly. In fact this was the only day he swam without his swim shirt because he didn’t mind having more sunscreen on. It still turned him more white than I would prefer, but far less than California Baby. It did protect his skin very well. It even protected his chest and back that had not seen any sun yet. I purchased this at Whole Foods.
All Good
This face stick is my absolute favorite face stick. I used this last year too. Once you apply it to the face it is so easy to rub in. My kids don’t especially love their face rubbed so much so this makes it a little easier. I purchased this at Whole Foods. The sunscreen is available at their website. I used this last year and really liked it. I wasn’t able to order it in time to receive it before we left for vacation.
So to conclude. Our favorites from this collection were the Badger and the All Good face stick.
I generally don’t like to spend $$$ on sunscreen😳, but having a rashy child at the beach is no fun. I am happy to report that Miles didn’t break out with any of these brands.
Since these are mostly sunscreen for kids, you might be asking what I used for myself. Well, you see, once I get the boys all lathered and deal with all of their complaining and “are you done yet”s, I am usually beyond ready to head out the door so when I did wear sunscreen I used Mike’s cheap low SPF brand because I couldn’t stomach buying yet another bottle for just myself. When my shoulders got pink I went for the white stuff. You can bet I was lookin’ pretty😉.