This is one of very few facial sunscreens of which I have used the entire bottle! I tend to have an oily face. This provided just enough moisture to make my face feel great. I sometimes mixed it with a tiny bit of foundation to make a tinted moisturizer. Make sure to apply generously! Leaves skin matte without a shiny sunscreen sheen!
I snapped the photo when I was about to toss this empty bottle thinking I had better review it! I’m afraid I don’t have pictures of the texture of the product on skin, but it is very thin and rubs in very easily. It is translucent and matte. Excellent for daily wear by men or women.
Review Criteria
Price
$13 bottle, $3 per ounce
Mineral or Chemical
Chemical
Ease of application
Very easy, goes on like any light moisturizer, soaks in and makeup applies well on top. Very thin liquid.
Concerning ingredients
Avobenzone- can be an estrogen emulator much like tea tree oil; does not stop me from using it
Scent
None
Face/Body
Face
Adult/Kid/Baby
Adult at my house, will give to teens/tweens when/if acne becomes an issue
Water Resistance
None. Pick something else for swimming or working out.
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.
Melanoma and Skin Cancer Awareness Month is winding down with the end of May and today is the last day of school for my kiddos! This summer break we plan to do lots of swimming, playing soccer in our backyard, and geocaching. It will involve lots of time enjoying the outdoors in our beautiful desert home.
When I was first diagnosed with melanoma, I was afraid to be outside in the sun. With time and practice I have learned with a little thought and planning I can enjoy outdoor activities and still protect my skin! This is also the time of year I am purchasing new sunscreens for the summer.
Today, the Friday before Memorial Day weekend, is designated as “No Fry Friday.” A good time to do a little sunscreen and a sun safety reminder. So, if you are doing your summer sunscreen purchasing right now like I am, here are a few things to keep in mind as you consider what to buy.
SPF 30+ Sunscreen needs to be SPF 30 or higher to be effective
Broad spectrum Make sure your sunscreen protects you from both UVA (aging) and UVB (burning) radiation from the sun
Reapplication Make sure to apply generously and reapply according to the directions on the bottle
UPF clothing and hats as well as sunglasses provide additional and necessary protection when outside!
Horray for UPF swimsuits and sunglasses!
I am often asked my opinions and recommendations on sunscreen products for children and adults. Whole Foods is a good place to locate mineral based sunscreens free of nano particles and potentially dangerous chemicals like oxybenzone. I wrote about my concerns about oxybenzone in my post FAQ2: How to Evaluate a Sunscreen.
Whole Foods Market Sun and Skin Care Section
Beginning tomorrow, Whole Foods is offering 30% off Sun Care Products from May 23rd thru 26th. The family and I went to Whole Foods on Speedway to check out their selection for you.
Abby models the smooth texture of Devita sunscreen.
DeVita sunscreen rubbed in quickly with no white residue!
For my very local friends, the Whole Foods Market Oracle store remodel is due to finish and reopen at the end of August. Yay! You can follow all Tucson locations on Twitter for updates! Stay tuned for upcoming reviews of other sunscreens we tested out today. We found a few great new brands and one we’d skip! Enjoy your Memorial Day and don’t forget your sunscreen!
Thanks to Whole Foods for offering my tired children a sample without even knowing I was writing a review!
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.
While were at a birthday party at the park last week a friend handed me a bottle of sunscreen and asked me to look it over to see if it was something I recommended. This is a sunscreen I have recommended in the past, although since then I have developed more specific criteria for my sunscreen analysis and I thought I’d walk you through my thought process in evaluating this and all sunscreens!
The sunscreen she was using was Neutrogena’s Pure and Free Baby.
Image: Bicycling.com
The first thing I look for are the words broad spectrum, as this label shows. Broad spectrum means the sunscreen protects from both UVA and UVB rays. SPF only measures how a sunscreen protects the skin from UVB rays. I aim for SPF of 30-50. Anything higher can cause a false sense of security while you are getting no extra protection. It feels like false advertising to me and makes me question the product reliability. In fact, European and Australian sunscreen claims are capped at SPF 50! Neutrogena Pure and Free Baby isn’t too outrageous with their SPF 60 rating. This alone would not keep me from buying the bottle.
I always avoid the sunscreens my children and other parents love, sprays. I don’t do it to ruin your fun, I promise. I explain why I avoid sunscreen sprays in my first FAQ post. Neutrogena Pure and Free Baby is a lotion so it passes this step!
Another things to avoid when you are evaluating a sunscreen is the active ingredient oxybenzone. Oxybenzone is a potential hormone disruptor. I have also read it described as a synthetic estrogen. If you are interested in researching more about this, there is a plethora of information available with a simple Google search. I choose to avoid oxybenzone with my children because I fear hurrying puberty along!* Neutrogena Pure and Free Baby passes this test since it’s only active ingredients are zinc oxide and titanium dioxide.
The last thing I avoid in sunscreens is the inactive ingredient Retinyl Palmitate or Vitamin A. Vitamin A is a fabulous anti-aging ingredient but studies have shown that when it is used on sun exposed skin, it can cause skin tumors or lesions to grow MORE QUICKLY! Eek! Save the Vitamin A for night creams and avoid it in sunscreen! This is a pain to check for in sunscreens! It is often close to the bottom of the inactive ingredient list and in tiny print! I found this ingredient in too many sunscreens I checked a few weeks ago at my local CVS. It was VERY frustrating! I also noticed that different SPF levels by the same brand’s inclusion of Retinyl Palmitate varied, so it is worth checking each formulation if you prefer a certain brand. Neutrogena Pure and Free Baby does NOT pass this test. Why on earth they have an anti-aging ingredient that can speed up cancer growth in their sunscreen is beyond me. But, because of it this sunscreen has FAILED the Martha check.
As if to prove my point about formulations, when I went on Neutrogena’s website to link to their sunscreen, I looked at Neutrogena Pure and Free Baby Faces Ultra Gentle‘s formulation and with SPF 45 AND no retinyl palmitate in the ingredient list, it DOES pass the Martha check! The Pure and Free Stick seems to check out as well. So, there is a good alternative to the Pure and Free Baby we ruled out tonight. Often the “faces” formulations are more expensive, so hopefully Neutrogena will change their formulation of the Pure and Free Baby soon!
To summarize, when evaluating sunscreen…
Choose BROAD SPECTRUM and SPF 30-50
Avoid sprays
Avoid Oxybenzone
Avoid Retinyl Palmitate
Hope this helps as you tackle the many choices of sunscreens available!
*I must confess that my beloved Blue Lizard contains Oxybenzone. We are trying out a new sunscreen now to avoid the ingredient, but we had made a decision that as high risk as our children are for developing Melanoma, it was worth the exposure to the ingredient. Especially since Blue Lizard is known for it’s staying power throughout the school day. The Sensitive and Baby formulations of Blue Lizard ARE oxybenzone free, however!
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.
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.
For my first sunscreen review, I thought I’d begin with my very favorite sunscreen. It’s the first sunscreen my dermatologist (who specializes in Melanoma) recommended to me. Actually, she recommended it for my children when they were getting freckles and a slight tan despite my faithful morning application of sunscreen before I sent them to school. She said I needed something more “sticky” to last throughout the school day. It’s also what she uses on her own kids before sending them out to play in the Arizona sun! Thankfully, Blue Lizard sunscreens aren’t sticky as in tacky feeling. They rub in nicely. They are longer lasting on skin (in my opinion) than other sunscreens because they meet Australian sunscreen standards which are much more stringent than our own sunscreen standards here in the USA. From Blue Lizard’s “About Blue Lizard” page.
“In the United States, the highest standards for water resistance are 80 minutes in still water. Our Very Water Resistant Regular and Sport formulas meet the most stringent Australian Standards which are 240 minutes in whirlpool water, making them over three times as water resistant!”
A quick note, that this only applies to the Regular and Sport formulas of Blue Lizard. I didn’t read this carefully and spread half truths when I began preaching the Blue Lizard gospel!
SPF: 30+ (Australian standards do not allow any sunscreen to claim any higher than this and if applied correctly, you should not need anything more than this!)
Chemical or Mineral: Blue Lizard Regular Formula is a combination of mineral and chemical ingredients. The active ingredients are: Octinoxate 7.5%, Octocrylene 2%, Oxybenzone 3%, Zinc Oxide 6%
Application and appearance: Blue Lizard is pretty runny out of the bottle. It spreads easily without a lot of effort. The sunscreen does NOT leave a white tint and is matte when rubbed in. No shiny residue!
Where to find: Blue Lizard can be tough to find. In Tucson Bashas’ carries it and even then, only during the summer. Any local pharmacy should be able to order it for you. It is also available through the Blue Lizard website, although the cost of shipping can be high. I usually order mine through Amazon. Free two day shipping with my prime membership works for me!
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.
