Sunscreen, what do you buy and why?

[Opti]

I need to get new sunscreen this year and was wondering what sunscreens people use and why. I am wondering whether I should stick with my tube sunscreen or go with the easier spray on ones.

I am hoping to hear what you like and plusses of the one's you use.

TY.

[Artemis Windsong]

DH likes the spray on kind to keep his hands for getting greasy.

I use the lotion at 30 spf.  Somewhere our bottle disappeared so we will be shopping for cheap stuff soon. A lot of sales going on.

[Happy prose]

I use lotion, and whatever brand is on sale. The spray ones are no good at the beach. The spray blows away. I don't think I'd want to spray my face either. 

[Deleted]

I can't remember the name. Common brand in a pink bottle, SPF 50 I think, no tears . Most sunscreen I will get in my eyes and cry for hours.

 Not this stuff, no tears. It's downstairs and will look later at the brand.

[Deleted]

Coppertone

[zibazinski]

Ah, pink bottle, I thought it was the No Ad for kids which is what I put on my kids in Florida.

[swamp]

Whatever is on sale. 

[busymom]

I'm a HUGE fan of Neutrogena sun screen. I have really sensitive skin, so if I buy the cheap stuff, I break out. (REALLY attractive at my age!)   It's a lotion, but it works well for me.

[Deleted]

Badger 30 then 18. I use it until I get a base tan.

[justme]

I get a lotion that's mineral based, so zinc oxide and I forget the other one. I use that for my face any other places that burn easy - so shoulders, chest, ears, etc. Then I use a spray for everything else. Mostly because a lot of the time I'm in the sun without someone to cover my back. Plus I like not getting my hands messy.

[ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ]

Badger 30 then 18. I use it until I get a base tan.

You should continue using it even after that. A base tan won't protect you from getting skin cancer. Even if you lower your SPF to a 15, you should still continue to use it.

www.skincancer.org/news/holidays-and-seasons/memorial-day-2012

[Deleted]

There is no conclusive evidence that sunscreen prevents skin cancer. I protect myself from burns and plan my time in the sun carefully to avoid the height of the day and too much exposure. I'm comfortable with this plan.

[Opti]

Jul 5, 2015 21:34:42 GMT -5 oped said:

There is no conclusive evidence that sunscreen prevents skin cancer. I protect myself from burns and plan my time in the sun carefully to avoid the height of the day and too much exposure. I'm comfortable with this plan.

Correct. Unfortunately, I developed uneven tanning/warning signs? on my driver side left arm, so I do attempt to use sunscreen to prevent skin cancer. Hard to predict traffic and sun strength when I've commuted to Princeton, hence the desire to find a decent sunscreen.

I like Alba's lotions ones, however, when they get warm they often squirt or drip onto my clothing along with getting on the skin of my arms, hand, legs. Was looking for ideas/brands that might be less messy. Thanks for all who have replied thus far. Giving me things to think about. Is old suntan lotion still "good"? I have an old spray bottle that I haven't thrown out yet. Its in the medicine cabinet and I have used it a bit while home, sick.

[Deleted]

Badger is a very think cream.

[Opti]

Jul 5, 2015 18:48:47 GMT -5 busymom said:

I'm a HUGE fan of Neutrogena sun screen. I have really sensitive skin, so if I buy the cheap stuff, I break out. (REALLY attractive at my age!)   It's a lotion, but it works well for me.

Are there coupons sometimes for Neutrogena? It was one of the brands I was considering trying.

[Deleted]

Environmental Working Group named Nettogena sunscreens among the worst this year.

[Deleted]

www.ewg.org/2015sunscreen/hall-of-shame/

[busymom]

Jul 5, 2015 21:48:00 GMT -5 oped said:

Environmental Working Group named Nettogena sunscreens among the worst this year.

  I'll admit that I wasn't able to find the same formula of Neutrogena that I've bought in previous years.  And, we haven't had enough sunny days here to really test what I bought.  (I got the Ultra Sheet Dry-Touch SPF 70).  I'm not someone who wears sunscreen every day.  Just days that I know I'll be spending time outside, or, a lot of time driving the car.  My skin won't let me cover it every single day, because as I mentioned, I break out easily.

  Regarding coupons, I don't see them very often for Neutrogena brand.  I just watch for specials at stores like Target.

[Deleted]

It looked like here was more on that list too? I just remember neutrogena was in the headlines. Now I'm not up on that organization and I have some, interesting friends.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

On my face, I use Murad year around.  It's one of the few moisturizers that has a normal SPF of 30.

For the rest, I use what I find on sale.  TD just asked me to pick some up for our trip to IN later this week.  I told him that we could mooch off my sister, but found an unopened bottle I picked up last year that's still good.

[Wisconsin Beth]

Personally, I like Coppertone Sport and I'm tending towards the sprays, in the 30-50 range.  So my sprays are in the bad list because they're sprays but the range I like, for my brand isn't on the list. 

[justme]

Sprays work enough not to get me burnt. I can tell because once in a while I miss spots and those spots burn. Lol

[nikiz628]

I received Coppertone Clearly Sheer in a BzzAgent kit to try and review. Since then, its my go to sunscreen. It's very lightweight, non greasy, and provides amazing SPF protection! They frequently release coupons too, so its even better!

[Artemis Windsong]

Jul 4, 2015 11:44:49 GMT -5 Artemis Windsong said:

DH likes the spray on kind to keep his hands for getting greasy.

I use the lotion at 30 spf.  Somewhere our bottle disappeared so we will be shopping for cheap stuff soon. A lot of sales going on.

I found the bottle on top of the shower door.  Don't know how it got there.  In the meantime, I pulled all of my extra tubes out of the car.

I think sunblock is better than sunscreen from what I've heard on TV.  A full spectrum block is best.

[Deleted]

I have bad reactions to chemical sunscreens, especially on my face, ears, neck, and chest. It causes chemical burns and thousands of tiny painful red bumps on my face. Because of this, I can only wear physical sunblock. I've had great luck with the EltaMD line, as well as Clinique CityBlock.

[wvugurl26]

Face gets Olay moisturizer with sunscreen. I usually buy Coppertone sport spray. Protected me from the Vdara death ray and the Mojave Desert in July. I've also used Ulta's spray. One of my cousins had a reaction to it but I was fine. Took that to Jamaica. Used the last bottle at an amusement park.

[chiver78]

Coppertone is the only brand where the fragrances don't annoy my allergies. face/neck/ears get "faces" spf 30, everything else gets sport spray spf 15. although this year I haven't used the faces 30, I have just sprayed the 15 into my hands until I have a puddle or so, and rubbed it over my face/neck/ears.

fwiw, I keep reading that the spray sunscreens are going to be discontinued in the next couple years due to concerns about the aerosols they use. they can pry my Coppertone sport out of my cold dead hands.

sent from my electronic distraction

[thyme4change]

There used to be this awesome sunscreen on the market, but it went off the market.  I saved it up for the days I was going to need it the most.  It was like the "spongeworthy" episode of Seinfeld.  Now, I buy a variety of sunscreen for when we are spending a full day outside.  I use makeup that has sunscreen for my regular day-in, day-out stuff.  

I have always used the rule that sunscreen is most necessary from 10-3.  We were at someone's house the other day, and it was like 6:30 pm and she was making all the kids put on sunscreen.  It seemed really weird to me.  It was hot, but the sun was so low.  Sunset is before 8 pm here.  

[snapdragon]

Coppertone Baby SPF 50  -- It's the best use for me. Really Fair skin and I can get burnt sitting in my car during my lunch hour. 

[Opti]

Jul 7, 2015 19:25:15 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

There used to be this awesome sunscreen on the market, but it went off the market.  I saved it up for the days I was going to need it the most.  It was like the "spongeworthy" episode of Seinfeld.  Now, I buy a variety of sunscreen for when we are spending a full day outside.  I use makeup that has sunscreen for my regular day-in, day-out stuff.  

I have always used the rule that sunscreen is most necessary from 10-3.  We were at someone's house the other day, and it ways like 6:30 pm and she was making all the kids put on sunscreen.  It seemed really weird to me.  It was hot, but the sun was so low.  Sunset is before 8 pm here.  

Depends where you are and your sun sensitivity. The worst sun burn I ever got was after 6:30PM at a lake

during the raft trip. Me and my sis were convinced possibly by the trip's organizer we could skip the sunscreen because it was late and sundown was about 8:30PM.

We both got pretty red shoulders. Yes it was worse because of the water reflecting the sun, but we were in the lake probably just an hour, certainly less than two. We both tend to be fair, and rarely tan much. We go from slight tanning to sun burn fairly quick. Lots of peeling hot skin that week.