Today we are talking about something that is near and dear to my heart, and a brand that I have absolutely fallen in love with.  Let’s get serious about sunscreen.  You know that I grew up in Florida and definitely did not take care of my skin the way I should have in my youth.  What you might not know is that because of that I had a pretty bad skin cancer scare when we lived in Minnesota that ended in a trip to the Mayo Clinic.  Luckily they were able to remove everything and I haven’t had any issues since then, but let’s just say it was enough to scare me straight.  Since that moment I have been a dedicated sunscreen user.  In fact, when anyone asks me my number one anti-aging secret sunscreen is my number one answer.

Sunscreen Mousse | Setting Mist | Everyday Sunscreen

About a year ago, Supergoop!  sent me some product to try and it has been my go-to sunscreen ever since.  And you know that if there is a product that I love, I absolutely can not keep it from my people. There are a million reasons that I love it, but my number one reason is it is the most kid friendly sunscreen I have ever used.  How many times have you had to literally wrestle your kids down and practically sit on them to get sunscreen on?  How many times have you heard “it’s burning my eyes” “my skin’s on fire”?  I feel like that is the refrain of summer.  Well guess what, it doesn’t have to be anymore.  I did some research and asked the Supergoop! team a few questions because I wondered why my kids never complained about this sunscreen burning their skin and eyes.  Honestly, it made me a little curious if it was even working if it wasn’t burning.  Here is what I learned.  Most drugstore sunscreen’s have a common ingredient called Oxybenzone.  I didn’t know this, but Oxybenzone has been declared the #1 skin allergen by the American Contact Dermatitis Society in 2014.  It is one of the most common skin irritants and is found in many drugstore sunscreens. And guess what; Supergoop! does not contain any Oxybenzone, which makes it more tolerable for kids or people with sensitive skin.  As a side note, Supergoop! also doesn’t include parabans, synthetic fragrances or nano-particles either.

So the whole purpose of today’s post is to give you some ideas on how to make sunscreen application on your kiddo’s easy, fun and effective. But before we get to that, I really do want to talk about a couple of really cool product features that make Supergoop! unique in the sunscreen market.  My #1 favorite product that Supergoop! makes is actually one of their brand new products, their Sunscreen Mousse.  That’s right a sunscreen with the texture of a mousse.  To say it is genius is an understatement.  First of all, YOUR KIDS will be obsessed with it because it comes out of the can looking like whipped cream and makes a cool noise.  YOU will love it because it goes on lighter than air and leaves NO STICKY SUNSCREEN RESIDUE!  Can I get an amen!  Guys, this stuff is life changing.  A little bit goes a long way and it rubs in so easily and makes your skin feel so soft afterwards.  The second product feature I love is the handle in their large pump bottle of Everyday Sunscreen.  Holly, the founder of Supergoop! was a school teacher and she wanted to make products that were as easy and kid-friendly as possible.  She developed a pump bottle that’s handle fits a child’s hand perfectly.  So when you are schlepping towels, toys, snacks, a cooler, floats, goggles, and everything else from a day at the pool or the beach entails, your kids can grab the sunscreen pump and take one less thing off your hands.  Thank you baby Jesus!  We keep the big pump bottle out at the pool house and the kids know exactly where it is, so they can grab it and put it on themselves.

DON’T MISS THE “HOT SPOTS”

My first tip is a basic, but a very important one.  Make sure that you are covering all the places on your kiddos body that we sometimes forget to put sunscreen on.  Some of the areas that really can take a beating are the tops of ears, the tops of feet, and hair lines on both girls and boys. Another place that I think is really important to get sunscreen on that is often overlooked are hands and lips.  Hands get so much incidental sun exposure just in every day life and they are often the first places on our body to show age (mine sure do) because the skin is thinner there.  If you are looking to prevent aging on your hands you have to try Supergoop’s Forever Young Hand Cream.  I have heard rave reviews about this product and it just won one of Elle’s Best of Beauty Awards for 2016.  Another area that is often overlooked in the sun are your lips.  Did you know that lips are a common area for melanoma’s to occur?  Yikes!  Luckily, Supergoop! has you covered with a full line of both lipscreens and lip balms that contain sunscreen.

MAKE IT FUN

Even the best sunscreen can feel like a total chore to put on if you are a kid.  I mean, who wants to wait to get into the pool for sunscreen?  That is why I think it is really important to make sunscreen application fun for your kids.  Give them different “utensils” to apply sunscreen with.  Take a really cheap paintbrush like I did with Luke and let them paint their sunscreen on themselves.  If you have a little girl, get an inexpensive beauty blender and let them apply their sunscreen like they are doing their make-up.  Also make it a game and let them apply their sunscreen in shapes or letters.  Let them spell out each other’s names across their backs or arms before they rub it in.  Just make sure it is rubbed in because no one wants a sunburn with a heart or your name in the middle.

APPLY, APPLY, APPLY

Did you know that the correct amount of sunscreen to apply is 1 ounce?  That is basically almost a full shot glass of sunscreen.  Almost 50% of people do not apply enough sunscreen, so make sure that not only are you applying it, but you are applying enough of it.  Also, make sure that you apply your first round of sunscreen before you even get to the pool or the beach.  That first application of the day is the most critical and it is so important to not only make sure that you are not only covering all of your body, but that you are also allowing your sunscreen time to properly absorb before you get in the water.  Technically sunscreen needs a full thirty minute to bind to the skin before maximum effectiveness is reached.  You should also reapply at a minimum every two hours-even sooner if you are swimming, sweating heavily, or drying off with a towel.  I know this is so much to think about, but it is so important to get our kids used to good sunscreen use and skincare when they are young.  23% of sun damage is done to your skin before the age of 18 and you get 10% more about each decade, according to the American Society of Photobiology (sounds fancy doesn’t it…my best friend Google found it for me), so it is critical to teach our kids good sunscreen use early on and really work hard to protect their skin in their youth.  I promise they will thank you for their wrinkle-free skin later in life.

I really do hope you guys check this brand out.  Their website is full of helpful information and amazing products.  I only touched the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the breadth of products they have.  They have great make-up products that include a CC cream, cheek and lip tint, setting mists, and mineral setting powders.  They also have some great body lotions and of course a full line of every kind of sunscreen you could ever imagine.  They are going to cost a little more than a drugstore sunscreen, but I promise you in my opinion they are worth every penny!

HAPPY SUMMER!
Xx
Landyn

SUPERGOOP! PRODUCTS I LOVE

WHAT THE KID’S ARE WEARING

Thank you to Supergoop! for sponsoring this post and thank you to all of your that support the brands that help make Living with Landyn possible.  All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.