What spray sunscreen do you recommend for kids/sensitive skin?

I get asked this a lot. I understand the draw of spray sunscreens. They are SO quick and easy! But, I can’t recommend any spray sunscreens. To be clear, I am meaning spray sunscreens in an aerosol or compressed air form, not the sunscreen with a pump spray.

Almost all spray sunscreens are chemical based. I am very concerned about the long term effects of chemicals that may be inhaled while spray sunscreens are applied, especially for children who may not be able to hold their breath as reliably as we would like to believe. My 8 year old son told me last week that he’d been holding his breath for 15 minutes (he wrote me a note to tell me.) I told him to plug his nose and he lasted about 4 seconds. He genuinely thought he was holding his breath before. It made me reconsider just asking him to hold his breath when spraying him with sunscreen!

I wouldn’t recommend sprays for sensitive skin. Almost all contain denatured alcohol which is horrible for skin! Drying and irritating.

Sprays are also infamous for not providing compete coverage. The chemical forms that go on clear are extremely difficult to check coverage.

So, I still haven’t talked you out of using a spray sunscreen? That’s alright! I won’t judge you if I see you spraying your kids down at the pool or the park! I know sprays are easy. ANY sunscreen is better than NO sunscreen! May I offer a few tips about applying that spray?

1. READ and FOLLOW the directions on the bottle. Chemical sunscreens need to sit on the skin for 20-30 minutes before the sunscreen begins working!

2. Spray until you can see the sunscreen on the skin. This is the only way to make sure it hasn’t all blown away in the wind!

3. RUB it in. ALL sunscreens need to be rubbed in!

I did try an all natural spray sunscreen by this month. The active ingredients (as in all mineral sunscreens) are zinc oxide and titanium dioxide. If you try it make sure you shake it and it should spray white. The first three times I sprayed this on my screen, it came out clear. I don’t believe I got any protection during any of these applications. Yikes! After shaking it comes out super thick and is tough to rub in. I didn’t like it  much, but if you really want to try a spray, I’d recommend Goddess Garden Continuous Spray SPF 30.

Not an ad. I purchased this product on my own dime. The link above is an Amazon affiliate link. If you buy with the link, I get a very small percentage of what you pay to help offset my review costs. I only review sunscreens which I would use on my family and myself based on basic requirements such as broad spectrum and a minimum SPF of 30.