Sunscreen Smackdown

I hate sunscreens. My eldest hates it so much that sometimes she would rather stay home than apply it.  She would rather wear a long sleeve shirt and long pants in the hot sun than wear sunblock.  If you decide to go this route, I can recommend the White Sierra Gobi SPF 30 shirt to do the trick, as it is loose fitting, wicking, and dries quickly, rather than the typical rash guard shirts.  My kids love theirs.

So which is the best sunscreen? Four criteria here:

1. Best sun protection; 
2. Safe ingredients;
3. Best feeling on the skin; and
4. Best value

Some day I'll make up a table and put it all together for you, to figure out which sunscreen is the best overall, but today is not that day.  This post has been sitting in my drafts folder for three months and I've realized now that I'm never going to get around to it.  If you manage to create a table with the sunscreen names, protection factor, price, EWG rating, and Amazon rating (for how consumers like how it feels on the skin), please send the link to me!  The fact that there are a gazillion different types of sunscreens, and multiples from the same manufacturer, leads to a Goliath worthy task.

Now, I'm thinking this is the Impossible Dream, getting a sunscreen which rates well for all of the four criteria.  So it is up to you which factors are the most important and the weighting you give to them to determine the overall winner.

Here is a discussion of the four criteria and what I've come up with after some obsessive research.

Best Protection from UVA and UVB

For best sun protection, I turn to Consumer Reports. Unfortunately, the SPF does not tell you how well protected you are from UVA and UVB rays. "Most of the sunscreens we tested provided less protection than the SPF listed on the container," Sue Booth of Consumer Reports said.

Sky-high SPF numbers are no measure of product effectiveness. A sunscreen’s sun protection factor, or SPF, measures its ability to screen skin burning UV rays, primarily UVB rays. The SPF value does not reflect the product’s ability to filter out UVA rays that, according to a growing body of evidence, cause skin damage, immune suppression and possibly melanoma. Studies show that high-SPF users are exposed to as many or more ultraviolet rays than those who use lower-SPF products. Experts believe that people get a false sense of security from those big numbers, don’t apply enough sunscreen, wait too long before reapplying and spend too much time in bright sun. 

About 1 in 7 beach and sport sunscreens is labeled with SPF values greater than 50+. The FDA has proposed to limit SPF claims to 50+ but has not issued a regulation to that end. European manufacturers are bound by a European Union rule that caps SPF claims at 50+.

If you just want the best SPF sun protection for value, buy the EQ Sport SPF 60 sunscreen from Walmart. At $7 for 237 mL, it's a steal. I am not recommending any spray on sunscreens because they are still researching the danger of that application method, given that the fumes may be inhaled.

Here are the top four according to Consumer Reports in 2010:

• Up & Up Sport Continuous SPF 30, by Target. It is administered by spray and costs $0.88 per ounce.
• Walgreens Sport Continuous SPF 50. Also a spray. Cost, $1.33 per ounce.
• Banana Boat Sport Performance Continuous SPF 30. Spray. Cost, $1.60 per ounce.
• Aveeno Continuous Protection SPF 50. Spray. Cost, $2 an ounce.

Ranking below those are:

• Coppertone UltraGuard Continuous 70+ SPF, costing $1.62 per ounce. Spray.
• No-Ad with Aloe and Vitamin, 45 SPF scale, costing $0.59 per ounce. Lotion.
• Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Body Mist with Helioplex, 45 SPF, costing $1.90 per ounce. Spray.
• Badger, 30 SPF, costing $4.83 per ounce. Lotion.
• La Roche-Posay Anthelios 40 with Mexoryl SX, 40 SPF, costing $18.82 per ounce. Cream.
• Avon Skin-So-Soft Bug Guard Plus IR3535 Expedition, 30 SPF, costing $3.50 per ounce. Pump spray.
• Burt’s Bees Chemical-Free with Hemp Seed Oil, 30 SPF, costing $4 per ounce. Lotion.

Safest Ingredient Sunscreen

For safe ingredients, I turn to Environmental Working Group's extensive ratings. Here is where I save you the work. I've cross referenced the Consumer Reports list with the EWG ratings for you.

0-2: Low Hazard
3-6: Moderate Hazard
7-10: High Hazard

Here they are ranked from best to worst. Click on the rating number to see the full description of the hazards.

For the Consumer Reports top rated sunscreens:

• Up & Up Sport Continuous SPF 30, by Target. It is administered by spray and costs $0.88 per ounce. 7
• Walgreens Sport Continuous SPF 50. Also a spray. Cost, $1.33 per ounce. 7 for the 15 SPF spray version.
• Banana Boat Sport Performance Continuous SPF 30. Spray. Cost, $1.60 per ounce. 7.
• Aveeno Continuous Protection SPF 50. Spray. Cost, $2 an ounce. 7

For the next to top rated sunscreens:

• Coppertone UltraGuard Continuous rated a 70+ in SPF, costing $1.62 per ounce. Spray. 7.
• No-Ad with Aloe and Vitamin rated 45 on the SPF scale, costing $0.59 per ounce. Lotion. 7
• Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Body Mist with Helioplex had a 45 SPF, costing $1.90 per ounce. Spray.
• Badger scored a PDF of 30, costing $4.83 per ounce. Lotion. 7.
• La Roche-Posay Anthelios 40 with Mexoryl SX, scored a 40 SPF, costing $18.82 per ounce. Cream. 2.
• Avon Skin-So-Soft Bug Guard Plus IR3535 Expedition scores a SPF of 30, costing $3.50 per ounce. Pump spray. No EWG data available.
• Burt’s Bees Chemical-Free with Hemp Seed Oil got a 30 SPF, costing $4 per ounce. Lotion. No EWG data available, but the Baby Bee Sunscreen Stick has a rating of 1.

Note that EWG has its own measurement of UVA and UVB protection, and the list appears to be kept up to date.

Best Feeling Sunscreen

I hate the feeling of greasiness and my skin breaking out, so I turned to the recommendations given by Well and Good NYC. Most of the sunscreens on the list were prohibitively expensive. The least expensive one was by Goddess Garden, Facial Sunscreen SPF 30, at $18 for 3.4 ounces.

The highest ratings on Amazon for natural sunscreens were for:

1. Burnout Kids Physical Sunscreen SPF 30, $5.29.
2. Sprunk-Jansen ThinkBaby Sunscreen SPF 50+, $4.80.
3. Vanicream Sunscreen for Sensitive Skin, $2.80.  4.5*, EWG 2
4. ThinkSport Kid Safe Sunscreen Thinkbaby Livestrong SPF 50+, $5.25.  5* 
5. Thinksport Livestrong Sunscreen SPF 50+, Water Resistant, $3.67.  4.5*, EWG 1
6. Seventh Generation Baby Sunscreen SPF 30, $6.53. 4.5*
7. Banana Boat Natural Reflect Sunscreen Lotion SPF 50, $2.25, 4.5*, EWG 3
8. Adorable Baby SPF 30+ Sunscreen Non-Nano Zinc Oxide UVA/UVB, $5.11, 4.5*
9. Blue Lizard Blue Lizard Australian Sensitive Sunscreen Spf 30 Plus, $4.38, 4*
10. All Terrain KidSport SPF30 Oxybenzone Disney Phineas and Ferb Free Natural Sunscreen, $3.53, 4*, EWG 2

Best Value Natural Sunscreen

The final consideration is cost. Most experts recommend TWO shot glasses of sunscreen, or around two ounces. Given that many of the sunscreens come in 3-4 ounce containers, it seems they would be finished in only two uses!!!

Not wanting to look up the cost of every single sunscreen listed as a top sunscreen by EWG, I took this shortcut by jumping off the research done by The Daily Green for winners on the EWG list.

The Daily Green listed the 21 Most Affordable Natural Sunscreens, listed in order of cost. Not all of these sunscreens are available in Canada. Cost is listed "per ounce."  My own additions to the list are in bold:

1. MexiTan and Tropical Sands Sunscreens, $2.19.
2. Purple Prairie SunStuff Natural Sunscreen, $2.31.
3. Nature's Gate Mineral Sportblock, $2.34.
4. Solbar Zinc Sun Protection Cream, $2.46.
5. Alba Botanica Mineral Sunscreen, $2.50.
6. Caribbean Solutions SolGuard Biodegradable Sunscreen, $2.67.
7. Jason Mineral Sunblock, $2.87.
8. Vanicream Sunscreen for Sensitive Skin, $2.80.
9. Loving Naturals Sunscreen, $2.94.
10. Goddess Garden Natural Sunscreen, $3.00
11. Earth's Best Mineral Sunblock, $3.11.
12. Aubrey Organics Natural Sun Saving Face Sunscreen, $3.46.
13. All-Terrain Aquasport Sunscreen, $3.54.
14. MelanSol Natural Sunscreen, $3.99.
15. Beyond Coastal Natural Sunscreen, $4.00.
16. Episencial Sunny Sunscreen, $4.25.
17. Badger All Natural Sunscreen, $4.69.
18. Sprunk-Jansen ThinkBaby Sunscreen SPF 50+, $4.80.
19. Blue Lizard Australian Sunscreen, $4.96.
20. Green Beaver Non-Whitening Fragrance Free Sunscreen SPF 30, $5.26.
21. Burnout Kids Physical Sunscreen SPF 30, $5.29.
22. Kabana Green Screen Natural Sunscreen, $5.95.
23. True Natural Cosmetics All Natural Sunscreen, $6.00.
24. Climb On! Mineral Sunblock, $6.00.