Lotion or spray sunscreen for Florida?

[richmo]

I use a lotion on face and neck (usually Banana Boat Sport 50 or Coppertone Sport 50) and spray on legs and arms/hands (usually Coppertone 50, sometimes Neutrogena Beach Defense 50). I rub the spray in and the combination seems to last throughout the day for me.

 

[cabanafrau]

The "sport" sunscreens are in general more "waterproof", even though they can't use that term any more. The original Bullfrog used to be the standard for that, but it mostly used beeswax to help it bond to skin. It also wasn't great for acne prone skin. It not only stuck to the skin, but it also stuck to anything else. I heard it was popular with surfers, but sand would also stick to it. I used to wear it riding my bike, and if there was any dust or pollen I'd have a nice coating. I do remember when Coppertone Sport was kind of the standard for sweat proof sunscreen that wasn't quite as sticky. It's changed a lot over the years though. A lot of the spray sunscreens are nothing but the active sunscreen and some sort of plastic, so those will stay on aggressively.

There are some sunscreens that use silicone oil. It's good in a way, because it's somewhat of a lubricant that makes it feel less sticky. The main issue is that they will destroy polystyrene plastics, including ABS. The worst for me was when Neutrogena had a spray sunscreen that included a polystyrene cap that slowly started to warp from contact with the sunscreen. If you use that, you need to be careful what you touch. Here's a discussion on that.

https://www.reddit.com/r/SkincareAd...creen_dissolving_plastic_electronic_products/

I've become more concerned about what happens if I inhale any of those ingredients, which is easy to do.

 

[bcla]

I've become more concerned about what happens if I inhale any of those ingredients, which is easy to do.

Which is one reason why I prefer to spray into my hands. I do that away from my face, and mostly I'm breathing in evaporating alcohol or propellant which isn't really all that toxic. I certainly like the spray sunscreens because a liquid is easier to apply. I also tend to use more than most people.

 

[cabanafrau]

Which is one reason why I prefer to spray into my hands. I do that away from my face, and mostly I'm breathing in evaporating alcohol or propellant which isn't really all that toxic. I certainly like the spray sunscreens because a liquid is easier to apply. I also tend to use more than most people.

I preferred the ease of using the spray sunscreens too -- until I realized the risks of breathing in ANY of those components wasn't worth it for me. There's no guarantee you're breathing in mostly this or that and bits of what makes them longer lasting on your skin aren't going along for the ride with the "not all that toxic" ingredients into your lungs. Bottom line, if it's long-lasting on your skin, what happens internally? Not worth it to me. YMMV.

 

[Klayfish]

I'm going to guess that unless you spray it directly into your mouth, any residual you breathe in will have a lot less "toxic" stuff in it than just breathing while driving in rush hour traffic.

 

[tvguy]

At home I use the spray and my wife uses lotion. Unless we run out of one, then we use the other, and never get burned. We'll be at WDW in 2 weeks and agreed to take lotion for the trip since a 16 ounce bottle of lotion is the same physical size as 10 ounces of spray so we can take more in the same space. And we won't be sending a cloud of sunscreen into someone's face. or lungs or food.

 

[bcla]

I preferred the ease of using the spray sunscreens too -- until I realized the risks of breathing in ANY of those components wasn't worth it for me. There's no guarantee you're breathing in mostly this or that and bits of what makes them longer lasting on your skin aren't going along for the ride with the "not all that toxic" ingredients into your lungs. Bottom line, if it's long-lasting on your skin, what happens internally? Not worth it to me. YMMV.

You can look at the ingredient lists for spray sunscreens. The simplest are just sunscreen, copolymers (plastic bonding agents), and denatured alcohol, plus some sort of propellant. The propellant could be CO2, but a lot are flammable like butane. You're already going to be absorbing the sunscreen, and the alcohol frankly isn't all that toxic compared to hand sanitizer.

There are a whole lot of things in the world I'm worried about, but we've all this stuff that worries me more than breathing in a small amount of sunscreen. My biggest concern is whether or not enough was applied and whether or not coverage is even.

 

[MrsDuck]

You will get much better coverage with the lotion. Take it from this pale Floridian!

 

[cabanafrau]

I'm going to guess that unless you spray it directly into your mouth, any residual you breathe in will have a lot less "toxic" stuff in it than just breathing while driving in rush hour traffic.

As an individual person living in this society, how much can I do to avoid the air pollution in our environment? Not much.

Common sense tells me that if I can do something to avoid any possibility of inhaling any plastics, polymers or silicons that have been rendered airbourne as liquid or particulate it's probably a good idea. YMMV.

 

[Topher99]

Where do you purchase the "sunscreen stix" that have been mentioned?

 

[bcla]

Where do you purchase the "sunscreen stix" that have been mentioned?

It's basically like big piece of lip balm, although some of them are shaped wide like a deodorant stick. Almost every major sunscreen manufacturer that you'll find at a discount store or drug store will have one, as well as house brands. Here's an example: