APROPOS OF ITS BEING REALLY, REALLY HOT OUTSIDE: Is there a product in any field which eclipses the rest of its pack as much as the
Neutrogena Cooling Mist Sunblock Sprays kick the ass of every gloppy, gooey, or excessively sticky purveyor of SPF protection which preceded it?
Sorry to rain on the parade, but it contains both avobenzone and vitamin A, which the Environmental Work Group says aren't so good. It's got a high hazard rating: http://breakingnews.ewg.org/2011sunscreen/about-the-sunscreens/387594/Neutrogena_Fresh_Cooling_Sunblock_Lotion%2C_Body_Mist%2C_SPF_45/
ReplyDeleteHere's a fun/scary/nerdy collection of charts on sunscreen: http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/2011/the-sunscreen-smokescreen/ (via The Morning News)
Also, as a parent, those spray sunscreens give me the willies. My kids breathing that? Yikes. I get Vanicream from Target instead. Goopy, yes. But not that toxic, OK!
As a parent, I find the advent of spray sun screen to be a miracle on par with the loaves and the fishes. I spray it on them outside, maximizing wind-waste, but minimizing breathing it in.
ReplyDeleteFor daily use on kids' faces, I find sunscreen sticks very useful - I get a lot more compliance asking him to use a stick than to use lotion. And I can tote one in my purse if we're going out somewhere sunny and he's forgotten to use it.
ReplyDeleteA stick can result in especially localized sunscreen distribution, which, depending on the situation, can result in very weird distribution of sunburn across the skin. Especially on one's face. While I don't have kids, I personally hate the slimy goopiness of sunscreen, but Neutrogena's sunscreens are at least the least slimyfeeling sunscreen.
ReplyDeleteI thought that the consensus was that the spray sunscreen didn't work right.
ReplyDeleteMy issue with spray sunscreens is that they cost way more than the other ones, and don't last nearly as long because you waste so much. I think they work fine, but I still use the gloop.
ReplyDeleteWorks fine on me. But apparently I'm getting cancer or too much Vitamin A.
ReplyDeleteWe've tried the spray but more regularly use the goop for torso and appendages. I think what we have now is Banana Boat Sport, in a non-greasy formula - dries quickly and not sticky. Stick for the kids' faces (which they apply, quite liberally, themselves, which is a nice break for us). Neutrogena goop for our faces. D'Arcy's right about the waste factor with the spray.
ReplyDeleteHow's the smell? We tried the Trader Joe's brand in Cape May last week and it smells to high heaven of alcohol.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. We use some crazy expensive gloopy stuff from Whole Foods that some magazine promised was toxin- free. Otoh, I still have to chase both of them around the house to get it on them.
ReplyDelete<span>I used the Neutrogena 75 goopy kind while in Hawaii for two weeks. I agree that the Neutrogena is less goopy than other brands that I've tried and stays on pretty well. As a person who has a history of getting sunburned when I so much as think about the sun, I was shocked that I managed to go two weeks without getting burned. In fact, you could almost say that I have a tan (if your definition of tan was "not ghostly white and yet not lobster red," which happens to be my definition of tan). I'm a fan of the Neutrogena goopy.</span>
ReplyDeleteI'm not really a fan. I think it leaves you looking oddly shiny, and it smells like -- I don't know -- chemicals. I like the Kiss My Face spray and lotion.
ReplyDeleteI have that now, after using neutrogena and the spray by banana boat is MUCH more liquid coming out at once than the Neutrogena which is a rough bit of being soaking in sunscreen in the bathroom adjustment period.
ReplyDeleteVery low on the smell ratio for sunscreen. Tiny bit alcoholy but low smell overall. Sort of clean with a touch of medicine.
ReplyDeleteTHanks!
ReplyDeleteWorks great on me and my kids. We've used nothing else all summer (except we use the Neutrogena 75 on our faces, because I break out if I use anything else) and (knock wood) not a bit of sunburn so far.
ReplyDeleteMost of that stuff is full of dihydrogen monoxide. Be careful.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing that came to mind to answer the original question was Addi Turbo needles. But I am a little obsessed with knitting.
ReplyDeleteWe use "oh crap we are all out and theyre going to call child services on us but heres one hiding behind the spray tan bottles". I cant believe you guys put this much thought into it.
ReplyDeletePS to Victoria: Chiagoo Red Lace.
<span>Our brand is "OMG we are out of sunblock and have been out of it for a week and they're going to call the child services on us soon and there is no sunblock on the sunblock shelf at the grocery store - oh wait, here's one bottle of generic hiding behind the self-tanner." You all seem to be living in a different world than mine.
ReplyDeletePS to Victoria: Chiagoo Red Lace.</span>
I'd be living in that world too if I didn't have a family full of redheads. Sunscreen is about the only thing I get an A+ for in the parenting department.
ReplyDeleteOoh, cool! I'll have to check those out. I've been prejudiced against Chiaogoo since my only experience is the prone-to-breakage bamboo double points.
ReplyDelete