Moms want to keep their children safe and out of harm’s way; but what do you do when their sunscreen fails, and they get burned anyway?
This has become a sobering reality for many parents who picked up The Honest Company’s 30 SPF Sunscreen Lotion, hoping for a quality sunscreen that is free from some of the more suspicious ingredients that are found in many mainstream sunscreens. According to a number of moms, the sunscreen seems to make kids burn worse when applied, which is the complete opposite of what you want in a sun protectant.
More: How to put sunscreen on kids in 10 (not so easy) steps
A quick glance through online reviews of the product paints a pretty damning tale, as parents relate what are pretty much horror stories about the lack of sun protection for themselves and their kids.
Image: Amazon
Image: Amazon
Image: Amazon
Image: Amazon
Parents have turned to The Honest Company for better alternatives to the products we’ve used on our kids for decades — products with better ingredients that aren’t likely to cause health problems down the road, but products that also do what they say.
More: Smart tips to keep your kids healthy the rest of summer break
NBC Chicago did uncover that The Honest Company cut the amount of zinc oxide in the product from 20 percent to 9.3 percent, but they say that it replaced it with equally effective ingredients. And the company itself told the news station that it has no plans to discontinue the product and that they can’t speculate on why the complaints are rolling in.
Not sure what to do?
One popular resource for parents to consult before plunking down their hard-earned dollars is the Environmental Working Group’s database, which includes an extensive rundown of sunscreens every year. Products are rated from best to worst along a scale of 1 to 10, and it breaks down each ingredient’s purpose and potential concerns.
What parents shouldn’t do is skip the sunscreen.
Sun protection is vital even from an early age. According to The Skin Cancer Foundation, “One blistering sunburn in childhood or adolescence more than doubles a person’s chances of developing melanoma later in life. A person’s risk for melanoma also doubles if he or she has had five or more sunburns at any age.”
More: Horrific sunburns land 2 kids in the hospital after day care field trip
For best results, avoid peak hours where the sun is at its strongest (from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.), reapply sunscreen a minimum of every two hours, and utilize extra protection, such as swim shirts and wide-brimmed hats.
So, for the rest of your summer, you might want to seek the shade when possible and really do some research on what is in the sunscreen that you and your kids use. It may make all the difference in the world.
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